Conflicting Ideals
by Razamataz22
Summary: Shirou had always trusted in his ideals. In this world full of heroes though, Shirou finds the entire system flawed. The heroes of today were well moulded in their beliefs. The potential heroes of tomorrow however were a different story.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night or My Hero Academia**

**...**

The small auditorium had been filled with chatter about why those who were here had actually been summoned. Especially since all of them had received the same seemingly cryptic request that gave them no real explanation why they should respond and come to this place. When he stepped out however, the room went silent and all of those in attendance knew that they were here for a reason.

His presence was immediately felt, still adorned in the armour he wore on his day to day routines. He was such a familiar face yet few ever truly had interacted with him outside of an odd job here or there. Even then he had stepped above and beyond what they could do. There was a reason he was currently ranked eighth of the professional hero charts.

Yoroi Musha looked over the podium that he stood at, the veteran hero gazing at those who had gathered before him. '_Less than twenty,' _he internally mused. '_Thousands of registered heroes and less than two percent decide to show._'

He wasn't surprised however, he had expected this. It didn't help that he had arranged this meeting with less than forty eight hours notice, barely enough time to postpone or cancel any real plans on short notice. Despite having solidified his place within the top ten heroes many years prior he was aware that he wasn't a flashy hero but he was reliable, always dependant when the situation called upon.

Or at least that was what the public was aware of.

It wasn't unheard of for heroes to be defeated by a villain who outclassed them in some way, shape or form. Sometimes it was simply due to a mismatch and it became more of a battle of skill and stamina. As a member of the top ten it was essentially unheard of him to possibly even suffer a loss.

That was not the case.

"Thank you all for being here," Yoroi Musha started, silencing those few who had been conversing amongst themselves. He could understand if they were nervous about why he was here, a few of them probably assuming that this was a retirement speech. If that had been the case then there would be members of the media present. Since there were none however it did beg the question as to why they had been summoned.

"What I have to say to you tonight, I trust you not to spread to those who would use this to slander my name. I cannot swear you to anything, but I do trust you as professionals to adhere to this." Yoroi Musha paused as he allowed these few words to sink in. Many of the heroes present were of veterans in their own right having gained their hero license many years prior before making their mark in the world. In fact the only one who had only recently made their mark was the wooden hero, Kamui Woods who had debuted a handful of months earlier. Yoroi Musha was merely glad a member of the younger generation had chosen to come.

"Two weeks ago, I combated a villain much like any other and once he was defeated I left it to the authorities when I heard a nearby scream, a woman having had her handbag stolen and the perpetrator was escaping down a nearby alley. I thought it odd only momentarily as to why a villain would strike after having just witnessed what happened but I pushed it to the side as I gave pursuit. What I swiftly found however was that the handbag was never the target, having been taken out of the eye of the public and hidden from view, I learnt that I was his goal."

He paused momentarily as the crowd before him gave a startled gasp. The mere idea that somebody would lure a hero into an alley wasn't an impossible idea, the minds of villains worked in very different ways. Letting out a hefty cough, the attention was brought back to the hero standing in front of them. "He stood in front of me, a boy no older than fourteen but he stared at me with eyes that spoke of experience, as if what he had been doing he had been doing for years. I tried to converse with him, get any sort of reaction but he refused to speak before bursting forward with twin blades in his hands, one white and one black."

"We clashed, our blades crossing paths time and time again but every time I thought I broke through his guard he would counter in ways I hadn't expected. The strength in his blows made me assume he had a strength based quirk but that didn't explain the swordplay. The art of the sword is a dying breed yet it seemed as if he had been born with a blade in his hand. It pains me to say this, but upon that day I was defeated in one on one combat."

The silence was deafening as the fact sunk in and the realization of why the media were absent became clear. To know that such a high ranking hero had been defeated in battle would cause the public to panic; their faith in the system would be shaken and it would be many months or potentially years for the damage this news could potentially cause to be rectified. No wonder the heroes present were being requested to be silent.

"With my blade cast aside and having been taken off my feet I was at his mercy before he turned his back on me and for the first time, he spoke. He thanked me for the fight, which in and of itself took me by surprise. He then told me that my strength was genuine and I should be proud of all that I accomplished and to never forget what a true hero is."

"I took all this into heart before I called you here tonight as opposed to simply informing the media of a powerful villain on the loose. This is simply because I do not think that he is a villain but rather a misguided youth, powerful, but misguided. He deliberately sought me out to test my strength but to also show me that I have potentially grown content with my own abilities. I still have something left to give in this world and pray that you too can learn from my mistakes. We are heroes and are potential weaknesses may cost not only our lives but the lives of those we are trying to protect. Strive to be better tomorrow than you are today, and again better the day after."

"Thank you for your time."

"Yoroi Musha, can you at least warn us about what he looks like?" asked one of the heroes in attendance.

"He was lean, fit with white hair and brown eyes. He also wore a red cloak which he may have used to conceal his weapons," explained Yoroi Musha.

"A name, did he say his name?"

"Not his actual name, but an alias, one which he might have crafted as a child one day dreaming of what his hero name would be."

"What was it?"

"Archer."

...

Shinji Nishiya, other wise known as the hero Kamui Woods, left the meeting with dark thoughts clouding his mind. Unlike many of the heroes who had been in the presence of the veteran of the industry, he hadn't had his hero license for long and the next youngest hero in the room had been fighting the good fight for at least a decade prior.

Having heard from one of the oldest heroes in the business about a vigilante of sorts who seemed to merely wish to test himself was unsettling. For one so young to walk down such a dangerous path which could easily turn villainous, he wished to know just how such a boy had gone down such a route. Preventing other individuals from walking down the road of villainy was just so, if not more important, than capturing criminals.

Archer.

The name sounded almost foreign in the modern era. Like with how the boy was seemingly more than capable with blades, many had also forgone the art of archery. Perhaps part of this kid's agenda was to remind those of a time before quirks were common place and what society had left behind in its wake. Could a teenager have such ideas however and if so, how had he gotten these ideas in the first place? Teenagers should be laughing with each other down the mall, making new friends and dreaming of a peaceful future.

Looking up at the roof of the tallest building nearby, he reached up and used his power over the wood covering his body to grasp hold of the ledge. Pulling himself up, Shinji easily scaled the fifteen odd stories before landing safely and staring out at the horizon. Even in the night, the city he had sworn to protect looked at ease.

It was comforting.

"You look content."

"I'm merely glad that there is no unrest in the city this night," declared Shinji.

"There's always unrest, I can guarantee you that somewhere right now something is being plotted and schemed that will cause panic and confusion to the populace."

"I suppose you're right, but when it does happen, I'll be there to stop it!" he declared boldly, clenching his fist in front of his body. It was at this moment that Shinji realized that he wasn't alone, a foolish thought after just having conversed with someone but still a thought that crossed his mind. Turning around slowly, Shinji simply hoped that another hero from the meeting had come to join him atop the roof to admire the scenery.

It wasn't the case.

Shinji's eyes sharpened as he braced himself for any sort of confrontation that could potentially happen with the individual in front of him. Here was the teenager who had been the entire cause for the meeting that he had attended, the red cloak he wore lightly billowing in the breeze. Thankfully he wasn't armed but as far as Shinji knew, that didn't make him any less dangerous.

"What do you want?" asked Shinji, mentally preparing himself for conflict.

"I was merely curious to see how many people were attending this meeting," answered Archer. "I do have to say, the number is a touch lackluster."

"What, did you truly want your name of terror to ring out to as many people as possible?"

"Hardly," scoffed Archer. "Frankly I don't care how many people do or don't know my name but my message is a simple one."

"Simple? You think attacking an elite hero sends a simple message?" questioned Shinji, getting even more worked up.

"What is a hero?"

The question rang forth and Shinji momentarily found himself at a loss of words before answering. "Heroes are those who step forth whenever there is trouble."

"So what happens when there is no more trouble, when the world is at peace?"

Shinji was silent as he took in the words being said to him by the individual in front of him. Not only that, but it was the way that he spoke. Something like this he imagined quite an amount of passion, anger, fear, disgust, SOMETHING...yet there was nothing. The words he was saying came out seemingly as easy as breathing.

Archer continued, "For a hero to step forward there must first be someone in danger. For children to dream of becoming heroes, they too are wishing for some villainous act or catastrophe to occur for them to step forward and save the day. The more heinous the moment, the greater their name rings forth. The more people who stream an event, the more of a household name they become. Heroes almost actively have to interfere with one another just to get a piece of the action. The mere fact that the act of saving people is a popularity contest is a farce in and of itself. Only a handful of the heroes are worthy of the title."

Shinji found himself stunned, each point that had been made had struck him to the core. He could recall his debut, how he had helped rescue some civilians from a burning building. He had been praised for having helped those who had been screaming for help from the windows despite the fact his quirk was weak against the flames. The media had loved him as the hero who confronted his fears. It was a debut that had made headlines, there was nothing more that any hero could want. It was something which aspiring heroes dreamed of.

And it came with a reality none of them had truly thought about. Archer's words stung harsher than any weapon could and it struck more than a single nerve.

Finding his voice after several seconds of uncertain pause, Shinji spoke. "So what, you're plan is to go around and assault as many heroes as you can and force them to see things differently?"

"No, the world cannot be changed so easily. Whatever I say or do will get spun out of control by one outlet or another and the words of a renegade will never hold. What I say, what I do, will inevitably mean nothing to the eyes and ears of the public. To those who the public idolize however, that's something completely different."

"You want us to spread your word?"

"Hardly."

Shinji said nothing as Archer turned his back to him. Part of him wanted to capture the person in front of him, bound him up in such a way that there was no way for him to escape. At the same time though he knew he had to exercise some form of control, the mere fact that Archer had the confidence to show them an opening meant that he felt himself safe or perhaps even overconfident. Either way, he knew that any sort of attack he could unleash could potentially result in a swift downfall.

"If you want any more reason to attack me from behind, know that I'll be going after Mount Lady later this week," proclaimed Archer.

"Mount Lady!"

"Yes, her quirk isn't suited for a hero."

"And who are you to judge such a thing? It is not our quirks that make us heroes but our actions," declared Shinji.

"Even if those actions are for their own benefit?"

Not surprisingly, Shinji didn't have a response for that.

"You can warn her in advance if you so wish," said Archer. "It won't matter regardless."

Shinji watched as Archer leapt off the building and momentarily feared that the man had just decided to end his own life. He watched in surprise however as he continued onwards, easily traversing the necessary distance between where he had been standing and the rooftop of the building across the street.

Shinji could do nothing but watch as Archer leapt into the darkness and he found himself conflicted. Throughout the entire talk he had been calm and composed while discussing dark topics of conversation. That wasn't normal. Even saying how he was going to assault Mount Lady, he had done so as if he was explaining how he had changed a tyre or gone for a walk in the park. He made it sound so mundane. Coming from a teenager this was more than confronting.

Now he had the opportunity to protect one of his fellow heroes. He would muse over the intel and figure out what to do with it later.

...

'_The Musutafu Orphanage got a surprise today when Mount Lady visited and spent time with the young children. The professional hero had been suspiciously absent of late, loyal fans noticing that her social media accounts had gone oddly quiet over the past fortnight, made her reappearance..'_

Shirou Emiya turned the television to mute, ignoring the morning news as he set about making breakfast. A traditional Japanese breakfast was on the agenda complete with steamed rice and miso soup. It had taken him a while to get his bearings around the place he had found himself and after garnering some manner of accommodation had immediately went about finding a grocery store that would provide immaculate quality fresh food.

At least one that wasn't manned by someone he had initial difficulty looking at without getting freaked out and nearly treating them like some kind of monstrosity.

After having arrived in this world it had taken him a while to get used to the whole concept of everyday heroes. That and the fact that an incredible percentage of the population had a superpower specific to their person. It had both taken him and his partner completely by surprise, especially to those who had some sort of physical difference.

Speaking of his partner.

"What smells so good?"

"It's just breakfast Tohsaka," answered Shirou, underselling the wonderful meal he had made like he so often did.

Without another word, Rin took her seat at the table with all of the enthusiasm she usually carried at this early hour of the morning. In other words, none. Shirou was used to this routine by now, he and Rin having managed to live together on this world for quite some time now. Not to mention the years prior where they had studied together at the Clock Tower. It was also there where they may or may not have encountered a certain incredibly powered mage who had found it quite entertaining the idea of Shirou dreaming of being a hero of justice.

So entertaining that he decided that the dream needed to be messed with a bit.

He was a powerful man, incredibly powerful and he loved flaunting his power. Shipping two people to another world was well within his power.

Rin and Shirou had silently sworn not to speak of the man again. Especially since that not only had that man sent them to another world without warning, had also reduced their age to that of teenagers. For what point and purpose had became obvious once they got their brains around what this world was.

Both Rin and Shirou were at the age necessary to enter a hero school and start becoming official heroes of this world. A course which would only start in a few short weeks.

Except Shirou had found fault with this world. The heroes and what they represented. It had conflicted with his beliefs and he had immediately set about trying to come up with some way to rectify the situation. Rin had hated the idea from the get go but knew what Shirou was like when he set his mind on something so she set about finding themselves accommodation.

They currently were lodged in a small apartment, the third story of an inconspicuous block in a quiet little neighbourhood. Funding had been one of the tougher parts but they had managed. They went mostly unnoticed on their day to day activities which allowed them to set about doing things their way.

Or at least they had imagined they had went unnoticed.

A knocking on the door turned the heads of the occupants just as Shirou was putting down breakfast. "I wonder who that could be at this time of the morning?" he asked nonchalantly.

"It's probably nobody," mused Rin as she started picking away at the meal in front of her, not worrying about waiting for Shirou to join her.

"If they're selling something I'll just turn them away," said Shirou intent on shooing whoever had disturbed breakfast away. Rolling his right shoulder, the man in a teenager's body unlocked the front door. "Can I help you?"

It was of course after he had asked this question did he have any sort of realization who he was talking to. "Excuse me son, we're with the police on behalf of family services," said the man standing at the door, another policeman on his right and a woman on his left. "Are your parents available?"

"Ah," said Shirou slowly. Now this was a problem they should have seen coming.

...

**Hope you enjoyed**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

...

Shirou sat in the holding cell, knowing full well that Rin was likely either being or would shortly be interrogated by someone in the office. Understandably, she was less than thrilled to be taken away at such a time in the morning. Whatever difficulties anybody had with her would be more than understandable and he merely hoped that she didn't say anything regrettable.

It would have been quite simple for Rin to alter some memories here and there, make it seem as if they had doting parental guardians looking after them. The issue then was that they didn't know where the reports were or if they had been passed on to higher up authorities who would get increasingly concerned were the same issues brought up a second time. This truly was something they should have forseen coming but having actually lived as adults for an extended period of time they had not thought it as much of an issue. Perhaps it was also because during their times as teenagers they had effectively been as independent as possible, even going so far as to looking after others in times of need.

The door to his cell opened up and two people walked in, taking a seat opposite him over the table. "I apologize first and foremost from taking you and your friend away at such an early time of the day but the reports from your neighbours were quite startling," said the woman of the group. "We have more than half a dozen reports how two teenagers seemed to be living together in close quarters without any parental supervision. As you can understand, this is something we had to immediately take into consideration."

"I understand," said Shirou hoping that Rin was being as cooperative as he was intending.

"So first and foremost, where are your parents?"

"As far as I know, dead."

The tension in the room immediately shifted.

"As far as you know?" repeated the male officer.

"There was a fire when I was young, I have no memories before then," stated Shirou in a matter of factly manner.

"Memories blocked by trauma," mumbled the woman as she wrote down on the bit of paper in front of her. With her notes jotted down, she looked Shirou in the eyes once more. "That must have been quite terrifying for someone so young. Did you have anyone support you after that?"

"I was adopted shortly after..."

"And where are these adoptive parents now?" asked the male trying his best to get down to the bottom of the situation. It was quite clear that he didn't want to be dealing with this at this time of the morning.

"He died."

Shirou couldn't help but feel some kind of amusement from the way the gentleman started rubbing at his temples.

...

Rin sat in her own room, legs and arms crossed as she waited for whatever results to be delivered. If she hadn't been as forthcoming as they had wanted her to be then it was their fault for not having allowed her to finish her breakfast that morning. The answers she had given were sharp and to the point, blunt and clearly showing her distaste for the entire scenario.

The entire scenario being everything that had happened ever since the Clock Tower.

She truly hated this world, not to mention the fact that due to her look she was being treated like a child. Even when she had been this age, nobody treated her like a child. Walking down the school corridors, nobody dared to even step foot in her way.

Taking a sip on the mediocre tea that she had been brought, Rin considered what the likely options would be from here. To the authorities, they were two teenagers who may have either lost or run away from their family. If they thought the second case were true, they would assume that the two of them had run away to be together. Frankly though she couldn't care less what they came up with, it would be nowhere near the truth.

The only real thing which had gone her way was the plan that was currently in play. Only a handful of days after having arrived in this world had she set an idea into motion. Even now, here at this station, her mind was active and going over possibility after possibility in her head to make this all work the way she wanted to.

The way it had to work.

The door opened up and Shirou was led in, thanking the officer as he passed by. With the door closing behind them, a single glance between the two occupants of the room was all that was needed for them to both understand they had to be careful with what they said. Both of them had likely said things that may or may not have infuriated those listening and a bug could potentially have been planted to try and catch them off guard.

"So what did you tell them?" asked Rin.

"How my parents and adoptive father died," answered Shirou causing Rin to snort out a chuckle. One which her venomous glare afterwards silently decreed that the noise would never be spoken of again under fear of intense punishment.

"I imagine that was quite an experience for them," she said trying to drive attention away from the noise she had made. "Your story is not really a glamorous one."

"Glamorous is overselling it," quipped Shirou as the door to the room opened. Both of them went silent and turned their gaze over to those who had entered.

"So," said the man as he looked over his files. "Shirou Emiya, Rin Tohsaka. We've run your names through the system and neither of you are on file. In your case it may be understandable Shirou, as your adoptive father might have been using an alias. At this stage we can only make assumptions but one thing that we do know is that you two are close, perhaps even hiding something from us for your protection."

The woman chimed in, "I hope that the two of you know that we're here to look after you. It is our job to make sure both of you are in a safe and welcoming environment."

"Anything wrong with the household we were living in?" asked Rin doing her best to stoke the fire.

"While, at least on first inspection of your living arrangements, everything looked more than perfectly normal and the two of you seemed to be handling yourselves more than adequately..."

"So what is wrong then?" asked Rin once more steering the conversation how she saw fit.

"Please understand that two adolescents living under the same roof without adult supervision is something that..."

"Something that we have dealt with for quite some time."

"Is something we legally cannot allow," declared the man, trying his best to stamp his authority to little success.

"What my colleague means, is that it is in the best interest..."

"I believe you meant your best interest," interjected Rin.

With a surprisingly level of professionalism, the woman continued. "It is in the best interest of society that the two of you be accommodated with a caring and loving family."

"Nobody's going to adopt us," stated Shirou, speaking for the first time since the two adults stepped forward. "Not only are we far older than most children in the orphanage but as you may have been able to tell, we can potentially be more than a bit more for unprepared families are ready for."

"While it's true that statistics aren't necessarily in your favor that doesn't mean that you should give up hope so easily," the woman said trying to sound as caring as possible. "I'm sure that out there would be a family more than happy to take one of you in."

"No deal," stated Rin harshly. "We're not leaving each other." Well at least that would solidify the runaway lover theory.

"You don't have any choice on the matter," retorted the male officer. "Why don't you just let the adults handle this before the two of you are placed in a juvenile correction facility."

Shirou knew that the idea of being placed in such a facility was likely more of a threat than anything else but at the same time the potential outcome couldn't be completely neglected. They weren't on any records, schooling or otherwise so they were effectively untraceable. Both had no parentage and the answers they had given would make it obvious that they had been independent for quite some time. Even when he had lived under the supervision of Taiga he had acted more of the adult than she had. That wasn't something that simply was removed from one's habits and it showed. He had been cooking for Rin for years now but nobody would believe that due to the age they were at.

"So what, we're just meant to wait while you fail at finding us suitable living?" asked Rin.

"That's exactly what you'll do," stated the man as he headed towards the door, closely followed by his colleague who was looking less than thrilled. When the door closed behind them, Rin turned her attention to Shirou.

"Shirou."

"Yes?"

"Get us out of here."

"As you wish."

...

It would be several minutes before anybody came in to check on the two teenagers only to find that the side wall had been partially removed, as if cut clean away giving enough space for a human to easily leave.

...

Shirou stood atop the roof of the apartment that they had called home for so long. Rin was currently working on shoving whatever was worth keeping into any sort of bags they had. Both know that it wouldn't be long before the authorities returned to this area in search of them. Part of them had wanted to simply head off somewhere new but they at least needed some belongings to get by.

Belongings which may have included funding that had currently been used to support their lifestyle.

Shirou tilted his head lightly as he heard the sound of movement behind him. Turning slowly, he found himself looking at a hero dressed in something reminiscent of a suit of armour with pipes extending from his elbows. "You got here quick," commented Shirou.

"Speed is my thing," declared the hero. "Why did you run, what are you hiding?"

It wasn't like they had much, honestly the fact it was taking Rin this long to get together their necessities was confusing. "Being locked up really doesn't suit us," answered Shirou casually. "They say that they want to find us a home but we have one, right here."

"Be that as it may, the law is the law," stated the hero.

"I know. What kind of panic would ensue knowing that two teenagers broke out of a government facility with such ease?"

The hero tensed slightly as he braced himself. It was clear that the teenager before him was stalling, probably so that they're associate could get everything ready for their escape. No matter how fast they ran however, he would not allow them to escape. Not that he'd allow them the chance to run.

"Please know that I take no pleasure in dealing pain to one as young as you," the hero proclaimed.

"Shirou Emiya," announced the teen, feeling almost honour bound to introduce himself.

"Ingenium," he replied in kind as he prepared to charge. He paused however as the boy before him spread out his arms before twin blades appeared in the palms of his hands. '_Weapon creation,_' he thought, quickly realizing that the foe before him may seem more dangerous than he first appeared, especially if he was trained with the blades he wielded.

He wasn't a pro hero for nothing however and raising his arms up, a quick burst from his engine shot the hero forward at incredible speed. He intended to incapacitate, drive his fist into the stomach of the boy in front of him and finish it in a single blow. Even if he knew how to fight, chances were that he wouldn't be able to accommodate for a sharp burst of pain to the senses.

His plan took a swift dive however as the teenager before him matched his speed, his knuckles connecting with the flat of the blade Shirou held in his left hand. A couple of immediate thoughts rushed through Ingenium's head, most prominently that the teenager before him was strong, his blade not even shaking from the strength of his blow.

Ingenium had to react as the right blade swung wide and a quick lunge backwards prevented the armour on his torso from testing the sharpness of the blades. He was given no real time of reprieve however as Shirou pushed forward with the determination to harm that no teenager should have. Sure there was being able to defend oneself from harm but it was clear that the person before him truly knew how to fight.

Channeling only the engine located in his right elbow, Ingenium swiftly turned around in a full circle with his leg raised in an incredibly fast paced roundhouse kick. Shirou ducked beneath the blow before raising his blades in a cross to block the follow up fist that had been targeted square at his nose.

Pushing the fist back with reinforced strength, Shirou did his best to force Ingenium off the edge of the building. Noticing what the teenager in front of him had planned, Ingenium channelled more power into the engine in his shoulder in an attempt to throw Shirou off balance. It unfortunately worked in Shirou's favour, the boy tilting his blades to the side and forcing Ingeniuum's fist to glide off the edge and leave his ribs vulnerable to the knee that was swiftly delivered.

While his costume negated a good deal of the damage that could of been done, he undeniably felt the blow connect and it hurt like hell. His mind was suddenly in overdrive for some sort of reason why somebody with a quirk such as Shirou's was able to have so much strength without the use of a weapon. Even when he had been blocking his attacks, he should have at least been blown backwards but he had remained rock solid.

Ingenium's instincts kicked in and he propelled himself backwards once more to avoid the blade that had threatened to strike him. Knowing that their had been a gap in the buildings, he had accelerated himself upwards as well to safely cross the distance between the rooftops and although his landing was less than perfect he had managed to give himself some time to plan.

Shirou meanwhile remained stoic wondering what was taking Rin so long. Surely she had gathered everything they needed by now.

"You're quite skilled," commented Ingenium.

"I'm not the only one stalling for time am I," stated Shirou realizing that Ingenium likely wasn't the only hero who had arrived or perhaps had even been here beforehand.

Ingenium said nothing which was all the answer that Shirou needed. While they had been getting interrogated, it wasn't beyond belief that their belongings were being checked over, living quarters investigated and such in the hope of answers that he and Rin were unlikely to give. Unfortunately for them, they had no idea of the power that Rin possessed. Even if they had discovered the workshop beforehand, they wouldn't remember it now.

"Guess that means I should get serious."

The coldness of the words momentarily froze Ingenium and for the life of him he couldn't believe that it was a bluff, something to throw him off his game. Yet the ice in his eyes told Ingenium that it would be very unwise to go in with anything less than intent to harm. He hadn't necessarily been pulling his punches earlier but knowing that a single one of his attacks had the possibility to shatter bone if it properly connected had prevented him from going all out.

"Need a hand Ingenium?" asked a new voice from behind him, the tension of the moment almost causing the speed based hero to strike out of a sense of necessity.

"Kamui Woods," acknowledged Ingenium as the hero stepped forward beside him.

"This isn't your usual area of jurisdiction," declared Kamui Woods.

"No, I had been visiting colleagues when I was asked to assist in this," said Ingenium as he pointed to the teenager in front of him. Shirou meanwhile was happy that the duel blades in his hands hadn't earlier been shown to the wood based hero who had joined the fray. He didn't quite need his alter ego being recognized at this moment in time to create even more trouble.

That one word immediately sprung to Shirou's mind as Ingenium said it. Colleagues. Perhaps another hero who had studied with him and they had been catching up after some time. So Rin was potentially dealing with another hero in their room. That would mean...

"Aren't you done up here already Shirou?" asked the girl in question as she landed on the rooftop, her hair a little messed up but other than that looking completely fine.

"I was only stalling," commented Shirou.

"Of course you were," said Rin as she raised up her arm, likely charging up one of her infamous Gandr shots. Whatever ability the hero she had come across was capable of, Shirou knew from experience that all that was needed was a single shot of that to be taken out of action. "Let's make this quick shall we."

"Hold up, things just got more complicated," said Shirou taking a peek over his shoulder and down to the street below where the first sounds of sirens could be heard.

"If you think for a moment that we're giving up only to be taken apart Shirou I will..."

"You don't have to say it Tohsaka. I'll save us."

There was a calmness in his voice before he tossed the blade that had been in his left hand out towards where Ingenium had tried to get the jump on him, the speedy hero having to maneuver midair in order to avoid the impending impalement. In the air however he found that a weapon was the only thing he had to avoid, twisting thrice more in order to avoid consecutive dark purple balls which were constructed by the woman standing next to Shirou. He had to be cautious about them, whatever they did had managed to take out his friend and he knew that even coming into contact with them was dangerous.

Kamui Woods saw his opportunity to charge forward, his arm already shifting as his quirk came into play. Leaping into the air, he couldn't help but pause momentarily as Shirou looked squarely at him with eyes that seemed terrifyingly familiar.

...

The brawl had eventually made its way onto the main street and inevitably onto the world of social media. The media would report it during the evening news but by then opinions had already been formed. Comments and queries sprang up from all around the world as civilians, heroes and even villains watched two teenagers fight side by side in synchronicity which spoke of such trust and devotion to one another. All around them was the controlled carnage they had created, policemen and even heroes having fallen in their attempts to apprehend the duo before they had finally collapsed after no less than thirty five minutes of continual combat. Despite that, not a single civilian had taken a single hint of damage.

Even with blood and bruises painting their bodies, none could be turned away as the two were detained; clinging together as they were dragged away by whatever force remained, exhaustion having finally rendered them unable to defend themselves.

Conflicting views would be the major point of gossip for weeks to come as everybody had an opinion on the matter at hand.

For some, they saw two individuals fighting for their belief and love with one another.

Others saw hoodlums who wished for nothing but chaos.

A few would say that this was nothing but inspiring.

Some saw an opportunity.

And some could only smile menacingly.

...

Shirou paid minimal attention to the man yelling at his face, his words would pretty much be everything that he assumed it would be. Instead of focusing on the rant being delivered to him he was going over the battle he had partaken in the previous day. He knew that were he in his adult body he would have been able to keep the fight going for much longer than it had but he had to consider that he wasn't at his physical peak. It had been beneficial though to see what his limits were at this time, though when he got the opportunity he would be doing his best to create a training regime in order to boost his current levels.

"Are you even listening to me!"

The shout slowly drew Shirou's attention away from his own hands which had some point clenched into fists. He would have raised them but they were currently shackled to the desk he was seated at. It seemed they were determined not to lose him again. Considering that if he truly tried he could use a touch of reinforcement and break out once again they didn't know of his full capabilities as of yet.

"Excuse me, but I believe that I might be able to get a better response out of him," said a new person as they stepped through the door.

"And just who...oh! I'm sorry sir, go right ahead."

Apparently whoever the person was well recognized by the interrogator who simply left his paperwork on the table and walked out, possibly to get a decent amount of water to rehydrate his throat after so much yelling. The new person took a seat and a quick analysis from Shirou immediately informed him of who he was.

"How are you feeling Ingenium?"

"I've been better, that kick you delivered which sent me through that window had almost been my last straw but I should be back to active duty in a week or so," declared Ingenium as he rubbed the back of his head almost sheepishly. He had tried to continue putting his all into the bout but that single blow had dented his chest armour and cracked at least two of his ribs. From that point on he was effectively only aiding those who were in danger of getting caught up in the crossfire.

"That was clearly not the first scuffle you've been in, the fact that eight heroes were hospitalized by you alone speaks of incredible skill. Plus your friend, I don't know what her quirk does but a lot of people couldn't even join the fight having been hit with whatever it is that she shoots. At the same time though, it was noted that none of you sought to inflict extra damage when a hero had been downed. As a result, while humiliated, a lot of heroes are currently or will shortly return to their respective positions."

"That's it?" questioned Shirou.

"What do you mean?" asked Ingenium.

"You and your fellow heroes were just beaten, pretty badly I might add," added Shirou nonchalantly. "The public eye on you just shifted. How can a society trust those potentially unable to protect them?"

"So what would you have us do?" asked Ingenium wondering where Shirou's reasoning was going.

"Improve, use the humility of your loss and become better than the you of yesterday," said Shirou, as if it were the most simple solution.

Ingenium chuckled lightly at the teenager's viewpoint. "I employ sixty five sidekicks, each of them has sent me well wishes and hoping that I return soon. I think it speaks volumes that all of them however did not mention what you just did. You're a unique individual Shirou Emiya. I'll definitely keep your words in mind and perhaps I should put my team through their own training regime."

Shirou simply nodded his head, his message seemingly sinking in. "So this is the part where you start asking me the approved questions given to you by the investigators so they can make notes while having listened in to everything we say?"

Ingenium chuckled once more, this time Shirou could see a flicker of momentary panic in his eyes which told him that he was on point. "What makes you think that?"

Shirou leaned forward, almost as far as the chains cuffing his wrists would permit him before speaking low, his eyes sharpening dangerously. "You have no idea what I've seen, what I have been through."

"Then tell me," said Ingenium, almost pleadingly.

"You wouldn't believe me."

The words were almost cold and Ingenium knew better than to pry further. The experience shown in yesterday's battle spoke of years of fighting. It had also been in the way that Shirou fought. He had been calm, no signs of panic with every passing minute which was terrifying in it's own right. Even when he had taken a blow he nearly showed no reaction.

Mildly shaking his head and realizing that he had derailed from his original plan there was still something he needed to say. "One last thing," said Ingenium as he pushed himself away from the table, Shirou leaning back in his chair.

"I imagine it's what's going to happen to me."

"Well, you technically have a choice..."

"What's the option other than prison?" asked Shirou, already having deduced what one of the options was.

"Enrol at U.A. Academy and become a hero. You clearly have the ability and the strength to become someone great," declared Ingenium with a pump of his fist.

"I don't imagine that I'll be welcomed, what with having attacked other heroes and all that. I imagine I'm seen more of a villain than a hero at the moment," stated Shirou.

"It was actually the principal of U.A. who suggested this course of action," acknowledged Ingenium. "He saw you and believes you have great potential."

"So effectively he wants to show the world that his school has the power to reform those who are potentially being led down the wrong path," declared Shirou, his eyes sharpening ever so slightly. Ingenium once more felt whatever he wished to say stay hidden behind clenched teeth, not having even considered that the principal of the school had any alternative motivation behind the offering.

Shirou meanwhile was contemplating all that he had done up to this point as Archer. The heroes of this world had almost seemed to have become complacent in his eyes, content with staying in the shadow of those at the top. Their only drive seemed to be the fact that saving people came with the added bonus of a paycheck, a huge injustice to the title of 'hero' in his eyes. Very few that he had encountered had actually been worthy of being called a true hero and fewer still would ever change their ways.

The next batch of potential heroes however...

"I take it there are some conditions," said Shirou, relaxing his gaze ever so slightly.

"Being a minor without a parental guardian, the principal is offering you a way through the course via a scholarship. The only way he can do this however without media blatantly pointing out favouritism and consequently putting themselves in a bad light is if you pass the exams as the highest scoring applicant," said Ingenium remembering the offer he had been told to give. "If you fail to accomplish this, then there will be no place for you at the academy."

What would happen were he not to be successful went unsaid but Shirou didn't need to be told what the alternative would be. Undoubtedly there would be a good deal of heroes present at the event to ensure that he didn't make a run for it were he to try and escape. The threat that he would be labelled a villain if he were to make a successful run for it meant nothing to him. It simply meant that he would save people in other ways.

"Do we have an agreement?" asked Ingenium.

A steady breath escaped Shriou's lips before he responded. "Yes."

"Very well," said Ingenium as he stood up from the table. "I'll inform the authorities of your decision."

"Ingenium," said Shirou, gaining the attention of the man before him moments prior to him turning to leave. "Never allow yourself or your men to lose sight of what's truly important. Can the Ingenium of tomorrow save more than the Ingenium of today?"

The hero gave no answer, or more correctly he could give no answer.

Shirou watched as Ingenium left the room, leaving him alone once more. The entire conversation had come and gone so quickly but there was one thing which didn't get talked about in the slightest. While this offer had been given to him, nothing had been mentioned about Rin.

...


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

**...**

Shirou sat in the auditorium, his arms crossed over his chest. He was one of hundreds of potential applicants wishing to get into the hero course of U.A. Well, wishing was an overstatement. He had been a hero once before, saving people wherever and whenever he had gotten the chance. Years upon years of selfless acts. Some acts these kids sitting around him would never even dream of. The mental and physical scars he had suffered from helping others were burdens that he dared not share with anyone.

Yet he would continue to do so, to bare the burdens these children would not dare. For half the teenagers here it seemed like they were only trying to become a hero because it was cool.

He had nothing against the ideology of helping people. To only do so to be applauded by the public and expect monetary funding for doing what felt so natural to him was highly conflicting. If they were unable to focus completely on the job then it was very possible that they too would possibly need saving. But who saved those who spent their lives saving others?

"This is how the test will go my listeners!" shouted a person from the stage of the auditorium. "You'll be experiencing ten minute long mock cityscape maneuvers! Bring along whatever you want! After this presentation you'll all head to your assigned testing location! OK?"

Shirou watched as the screen behind the presenter changed as he continued. Shirou listened as the man, whom he assumed was a professional hero, explained how there were several different types of faux villains for them to take down in the test and how each would be scored. Shirou knew that it wouldn't be that simple however, otherwise it would simply be an issue of speed. Certain people wouldn't have any chance if that was the case. There had to be a secondary option for scoring that simply wasn't being mentioned.

Regardless, he needed to be top of this whole thing and if that meant he had to destroy every single robot posing as a villain then so be it.

...

Rin sat in a separate examination box on campus where she could overwatch the proceedings, already having been accepted into the school under the general studies course. It hadn't taken much in regards to convincing the school to accept her, especially with her practically guaranteeing them that Shirou would come out of this test on top.

She did wish that she wasn't isolated like this however, being monitored by the camera that clung to the roof watching her every moment. Didn't help that whoever was watching said cameras would immediately contact the number of heroes currently present creating a whole lot of chaos.

The door to her observing room opened up and she managed to only flinch slightly at the sight of the principal, the mouse with superior intellect having scared her almost witless the first time they had met. "Thank you for not running when the two of you had the chance," said Nezu as he leapt up, gripping the edge of the spare chair and pulling himself onto the surface that humans had no issue with.

"Don't pretend like you didn't have eyes on us during the week, if we made any sort of move you would have had heroes come down on us with full force," scoffed Rin. While she and Shirou had been able to perform a more than adequate feat in fighting off the ever increasing swarm of heroes she knew that both had once been able to do better. The bodies they were currently residing in, while familiar, were not fully grown. Having been adults for years, fighting at the age they were now was awkward, clumsy almost; their limbs only remotely responding like they should have. Their stamina had also suffered, something which she knew Shirou would be determined to get up to scratch and perhaps even become better than what he had been before they had found themselves in this world.

One on one, she was confident that they could go toe to toe with the greatest this world could offer. As the other week showed, a long drawn out fight against multiple opponents was something they could confidently confront at a later date.

"Is Emiya truly as bad a case as you said?" asked the principal, referring to the conversation they had previously had.

"It's a possibility," said Rin. "His ideals at the moment are distorted and I like to think I've done as good a job as I could keeping him in line." That was an understatement considering the number of times she had to comfort and console him ever since that first time she had told him that he was broken; it was amazing she still found reason to continue doing so. "If I could, I would like to talk to you in a purely hypothetical sense."

Nezu seemed momentarily perplexed before reaching forward and turning a switch off, a small red light blinking out of existence. Rin wasn't surprised that there had been an audio recording program running in the background, she still didn't have their full trust after all. She accurately assumed that this was the principal's way of showing that if she wished to divulge in something and keep it private that she could do so. "So what is this hypothetical topic you wish to speak of?"

"Hypothetically, will Shirou do well in your school?"

Nezu's eyebrow contorted slightly, wondering why this was under the guise of a hypothetical conversation. "I would see why not. From what we witnessed the other week he is a remarkable teenager."

"Not physically, but mentally," corrected Rin.

"We strive on our ability to help any student in any way we can to help them grow," recited Nezu as if reading a public address statement. "The heroes that come out of this academy will be sound of strength and mind."

"Then what would be the case were you to discover that he is a man trapped in a child's body?"

Nezu paused, wondering just what Rin was talking about. A possibility did come to mind however. With the vast number of quirks in the world, it wasn't impossible for someone to have such a quirk. Why they would use it on the person sitting beside him and the one that she had such trust in left more questions than answers but there was one which needed to be asked now. "An age regression quirk?"

Rin hated that word, quirk. Having to put up with the idea that generations of family knowledge and experimentation was merely considered as some form of genetic mutation sickened her to the core. In this case however, it would work to her advantage. "Hypothetically, we were not found in the police's database due to the fact that we are indeed much older than what we seem, both having decades of experience behind us, both mental and physical. During those times, it is easily assumable that not all of those experiences were pleasant."

"No, we can assume not," said Nezu momentarily recalling his own past which had been full of difficulties.

"As far as he can remember, Shirou wished to be a hero and after certain events became someone who could save others. His method of saving others though never came with the idea of saving his own life. He would risk his entire being on a regular basis, just because someone else needed saving. At some point, he had seen a vision almost, of what his future could hold and he tried to steer as far away from that as he could but in turn it pushed him down another way."

Nezu motioned for Rin to continue, wishing now that he had bought some tea or coffee to share with the teenager sitting next to him. What she was saying, while farfetched, was not out of the question but he still had to believe that she wasn't telling him everything, that would be far too easy. Had things not panned out the way they had it was very likely that these two teenagers would have been labelled as villains by society.

"After one particularly bad time, he went about trying to save people another way. He was strong enough and if he could save everyone by himself he would but as you are aware there are certain times where there are casualties. For once though he didn't put the blame on himself like he did so many times before, but he blamed those he had been forced to work with. Blamed them for not being fast enough to save one more person, not strong enough to protect them and that they lacked the conviction to save people. He went back on it all, apologized profusely when it was all said and done but a seed had been planted in the back of his mind, an idea that continued to grow unnoticed until it had almost seemingly blended in with his ideals."

"That if you couldn't save everyone, you shouldn't try saving anyone," said Nezu, drawing his conclusions from what Rin had said. It was a conflicting notion and Nezu could understand why Rin had brought this up with him. Even with the incredible number of active heroes, this world was still rife with crime and villains. It was inevitable that lives would be lost.

"It's gotten bad," admitted Rin. "Shirou is, and forever will be, someone who will save people. Now though that also means that he prevents them from putting themselves into danger in the first place. Had we not been brought here, I feared that his ideals would have only continued to grow worse over time and I know what the worst outcome is. I tried my hardest and I have effectively stalled it temporarily but that's not enough. I want my Shirou back."

Nezu couldn't help but notice that Rin's final reasoning seemed almost selfish. "So you're hoping that by having him around students that are all pushing towards their own goals and dreams, it will help him, show him that there are other ways?" asked Nezu, only receiving a nod as an answer. "Without any funding though, you had to..."

Nezu's mind switched into overdrive. The person next to him, was it possible that she had planned it all? All for the sake of Shirou Emiya? Being discovered to have no adult supervision, being detained, breaking out of prison and showing their talents in front of the world. Nezu had seen their skill and knew that if they were to be accepted into U.A it would do well publicity wise in the long run, how children with unimaginable potential could become heroes with the right guidance.

Was that how it went though?

Nezu knew that he had gone to the police station having wanted to meet with both Rin and Shirou but he couldn't recall much of the conversation. Considering that Shirou was about to start the test and Rin had already been admitted to the general studies course, everything had fallen into place. But was it his terms that had been agreed to?

Knowing he had paused for perhaps a couple seconds too long, Nezu turned to face Rin before realizing that everything was a bit furry in the mind. "So you'll agree to the accommodation arrangements?" asked Rin.

Accommodation arrangements? Of course, that was what they had been discussing. "Yes, that's right, I'll have the appropriate arrangements made," stated Nezu. "If you'll excuse me."

Nezu left without another word, clutching lightly at the side of his head. It was probably nothing more than an oncoming migraine, inappropriate timing but it couldn't be helped. There was a test happening shortly after all that required his attention.

...

Mina Ashido was pumped, she was beyond excited. She stood here, outside of her designated block surrounded by her competition. Due to her pink complexion, she stood out amongst those around her and she had gotten more than one curious look, perhaps others trying to figure out what her quirk was due to her skin pigmentation. Regardless of whatever they guessed however, she was more than determined to blow them all out of the water.

The one thing which had caught her attention during Present Mic's speech was how the faux villains didn't technically have to be destroyed, but merely disable. She was well aware of her own capabilities and while the acid she could create from the palms of her hands were powerful there was only so much she could do before it started doing damage not only to her targets but herself. So she wasn't seeking to destroy, disable. Whatever made them move, so long as she could hinder that and prevent them from progressing, she would be able to take far more robots out that way then trying to actively destroy them.

"AND BEGIN!"

Those two words caused a wave of confusion to rush over the crowd, random murmurings between the individuals trying to figure out just what those two words meant.

"WHAT'S WRONG? THE TEST'S STARTED! RUN! RUN! THE DIE IS CAST!"

There was no hesitation this time as the crowd lunged forward, pushing at one another as if to get a better vantage point. Ashido was one of them, determined to get to the front of the pack and give herself an open path to start her task. She, along with everyone else however, were forced to come to a screeching halt as their path was blocked, dozens of swords plummeting into the ground in front of them and temporarily halting their movement.

"What?"

"The heck!"

"Who did this?"

Accusations started ringing out as fingers got pointed, yelling how each of them could have been hurt. It became abundantly clear who had done it as a single person walked forward, gripping the handle of one of the blades before he ripped it out of the ground and pointed it into the centre of the crowd. Ashido couldn't help but swallow a lump in her throat noting that the tip of the sword was only inches away from the closest individual.

"You think this is a game?" he shouted, his voice roaring with more authority than Present Mic's had. "You are here to become heroes! You are here because you believe yourself to be the best there is but everyone around you thinks the same. What makes you more deserving to be a hero then them? A true hero is one who puts others safety and wellbeing above their own, but if you are unable to save yourself how can you save anyone else?"

Ashido found herself releasing a breath she didn't know she had been holding. The teenager before them had lowered his sword before moving forward, far faster than any expected him to do. The wall of swords still blocked their path and it was a clear message. Those who had ulterior motives for becoming a hero, this was a warning. Don't get in the way of those who wanted to be true heroes. Was this actually part of the test? It also didn't help that he looked incredibly familiar but for the life of her she couldn't figure out where she had seen him before.

One of the other applicants allowed a roar to escape through their lips before he charged, leaping over the wall of swords on his march forward. A handful swiftly followed the initiative, Ashido one of them realizing that nearly their first minute, a whole ten percent of their test, had already passed. She ran forward as fast as her legs would take her but took a glance over her shoulder at those who had yet to move.

So many candidates, frozen in fear. Each one of them had been raring to go only moments earlier but now they were questioning themselves. Was this truly what they wanted to do with their life? There was a life of hardship and struggles ahead of them and the first step had already caused a huge hurdle. One person, a single person their age, had effectively told them that if they weren't prepared to risk everything that they shouldn't risk anything. Ashido knew that just those handful of moments that they had originally cost them a handful of points. Those who had yet to move, even if they did find their conviction would likely find it too late. Even now as she looked forward she could see that all of the opening robots had already been put out of commission.

Running past one on her left, she saw that it had been nearly cleaved square in half. It was clear that the person who had stopped at the beginning was worthy of backing up their words. Well Ashido found her determination seeping back in, she would not be shown up anymore!

The explosion of a nearby wall caused her to smile almost in a sadistic manner. Before the dust had even settled she swooped into action, the acid on her palm forming before she slid under the upper appendage, her hand gliding across the leg. Standing upright, she grabbed hold of the extended arm and pulled, putting extra force on the slowly melting leg. It took only a handful of seconds before it began to collapse. She allowed a small roar of approval to come forth as the robot crashed to the ground, securing her first points.

Her momentary lapse in concentration however almost cost her. A glimpse of steel in her peripheral vision warned her of danger. She moved to leap away, get some distance between him and certain injury. There was no need however, the machine being put out of commision as an arrow pierced straight through the metallic frame before becoming lodged in the ground.

Ashido swallowed a lump in her throat before slapping herself in the cheeks. This was no time to lose focus. Time was not on her side and she ran off determined to find a new source of points.

...

Shirou stood atop the building he had perched himself atop, another traced arrow loosing from the bow in his hand. The projectile rocketed through the air faster than anybody could imagine before striking the intended target, rendering the robot immobile. Despite the distance, the arrow was able to soar through the air and strike with unrealistic precision.

Before the arrow had even sunk into the ground however, a new arrow had already been traced. He remembered his training however, the steps of kyūdō forever burned into his mind. Were he to ignore these he knew that he would have been able to take out more targets but that was something he just couldn't do under the circumstance.

The arrow he had notched soared through the air once more as Present Mic's voice broke forth, informing them that there was a touch over six minutes remaining. Shirou shifted his gaze to the starting gate, where a good portion of the attendees were either only just starting to move or would remained locked in place. He knew he had been harsh, shattered more than a handful of dreams in the process but it was for the best. He knew he was forcing his distorted views outwards but it was for the best. Heroes were those who would not hesitate to save others. The fact that there were those who had taken this long to muster up the courage to continue told him enough. From preventing them from starting, he had saved them from a life of pain and suffering.

He was forcing his ideals on teenagers, ideals which he had tried his best to hold onto after decades of saving people. The good, the bad, the young and old, it mattered not, he had saved them time and time again. Those times where he had been too late had dug at him deeply. Nights were plagued with simple questions, how small things that he could have done potentially changed the outcome. Rin had continuously told him that he was overthinking it, that there was nothing more that he could have done. No matter how many times she said this though he paid it no mind, always knowing that there had to have been some way to save at least one more person.

Gripping the bow tightly, Shirou ran to the edge of the building and leapt across the gap. This happened thrice more, the scope of the area in which they were conducting their test was vast to the point where very little of the area would actually be covered in the ten minutes they were being assessed in. Lifting up his bow, another arrow formed before being released moments later.

It was then that the ground began to rumble, the building Shirou was standing on top of shaking ever so slightly. Natural occurrence? When the behemoth of a machine appeared out of the middle of the tallest building, bulldozing it's way through other constructs on the way through Shirou knew the test wasn't over yet. Debris rained down onto the ground and Shirou sprang into action.

...

Ashido didn't know at first why she had stopped, the colossal machine only a couple hundred feet behind her. She had heard a plea, a cry for help and she had paused almost instinctively. Amongst the sound of screaming and destruction she had heard it.

Turning her head to the left, Ashido spotted one of the other hero candidates, the one who had been first to leap over the wall of swords trapped. She forced back the urge to vomit, it looked as if a part of the carnage had landed on him and his leg was now trapped beneath a huge chunk of debris.

She reacted, running towards her fellow applicant, narrowly avoiding a steel beam that landed near where she was. It only took a handful of seconds to reach the boy and she grabbed hold of the outstretched arm and began to pull. He groaned in pain but seemingly was willing to put his body through some more suffering if it meant getting out of this predicament. Even with Ashido's strength however, it wasn't enough to pull him clear.

Quickly thinking, Ashido released her hands from his grip and put them close to where his leg was trapped. "This is going to sting a bit," she declared before using her quirk, her acid seeping from the pores in her hands and sliding through the cracks and coating the teenager's leg. It would sting and so long as they got the acid off quick enough there wouldn't be any greater damage made but it would serve as a lubricant.

The man winced in pain but knew that she was doing her best to help him. Once more his hand was held onto tightly, her grip sound as she pulled with all of her weight. Now though there was movement, only a small amount but it was progress nonetheless.

Time however was not on their side.

Ashido tried not to panic as the monstrous machine lumbered closer, the steps it taking causing the ground to shake beneath her feet. Closing her eyes, she did her best to get her breathing under control. She was trying to be a hero! Heroes don't panic in situations like this!

A crunching sound made her eyes snap open and she saw that a steel rod had been jammed at the base of the debris trapping the person she was trying to save. Shifting her focus slightly she saw that it was the person who had hindered them at the entrance, wedging the bar in deeply. "When I say now, pull," he instructed, his words far calmer than they had been when he had first spoke. Ashido nodded and her grip firmed ever so slightly as she waited for his command.

"Now!"

Ashido once more closed her eyes as she pulled with all her might, this time though without the extra weight bearing down on the person she was trying to save, he slid free far easier than she had anticipated. Groaning in pain, the man tried to push himself up to his one good leg, Ashido quickly looping his arm around her shoulders for support.

"Get him to safety."

"What are you going to do?" asked Ashido, as the teenager turned his back on her.

"Stop it."

His words were calm, almost too much. Ashido wondered if the person her age even felt fear at the sight of the construction before him. As he slowly made his way towards the machine, Ashido turned around, helping the person she had saved towards where the starting gate was. It was slow going, the man could only move so far with every step but it was a step away from danger every time.

Behind her she could hear the sound of metal on metal scraping against one another but she dared not look back. What sounded like a huge piece of something crashed to the ground but again she dared not look back.

The teenager had trusted her to get the injured to safety. So she had to trust that he would do what he said and do something unthinkable.

Stop it.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

**...**

Rin stared out the window of the penthouse that Nezu had so 'generously' rented out for she and Shirou to stay in while the results of the Hero Course examination were being processed and mailed out. She had to say that the accommodations were adequate but there was undoubtedly another plan being made for when they were accepted into UA. It wasn't like they weren't going to get accepted. Rin had watched Shriou's performance in comparison to the rest of the students and there was little chance that he hadn't taken the top place in the rankings.

What she was most grateful for was the fact that the old Shirou was still in there. The Shirou that wasn't afraid of jumping in front of Berserker's blade had resurfaced if only momentarily when he had gone to help that pink skinned girl help the teenager who had been trapped. Sure the situations were almost completely different but it was a start. She knew the Shirou who had been by her side during the Grail War was still in there, however broken he had become.

Getting up from where she had been resting, she stretched her arms over her head before meandering over to the couch, plonking herself down rather unceremoniously as she grabbed hold of the television remote. Switching the overly large viewing platform on, she flicked past several news outlets before landing on a nature documentary. It would alleviate some of her boredom for the moment but considering how slim her options were at the moment she would take it.

Part of the conditions with staying in this facility was that they didn't leave the premises unless accompanied by a professional hero. This hadn't been something that had truly been of interest to Rin but since Shirou currently was absent and wouldn't be back until late it left her in a touch of a conundrum with what to do with her time. Where was he you might ask? Well, it turned out that he had made a good impact on Ingenium, the speed hero actually coming and requesting Shirou's assistance with, in his own words, 'kicking his sidekick's into shape.'

Of course Shirou said yes.

So now she was alone, in a penthouse, where everything was catered for her, watching a documentary about a pack of lionesses on the prowl...

She needed out.

Switching off the television and tossing the remote to the side, Rin got off the couch and prepared to contact someone who would take her out for coffee somewhere. Anytime out of these four walls would be more than appreciated.

...

Shirou twisted out of the way as the extended fist rocketed past where his face had been only moments earlier. The right arm retracted as the left swung out in a wide hook, the elasticity of the limb giving it extra width to go around a normal guard. Shirou however had no intention of putting up a normal guard. He dropped low, springing forward off the balls of his feet and closing the distance between him and his opponent within a heartbeat. He could see the panic in the opposition's eyes as he swung forward with the weapon that had felled so many today alone.

A solid crack rang out and those in attendance winced at the sound. There was a momentary pause as the only thing that happened was the snapping back of the rubbery limb. As it returned to what would be defined as a normal position, the man dropped to his knees, clutching at his stomach. As if to solidify his victory, Shirou placed the tip of his weapon at the base of his neck.

"Now, who can tell me what Extendoarms did wrong?" asked Ingenium of the other sidekicks who had watched Shirou effectively dismantle one of their own. The seventeenth one of their own at that. Each one had fell at the hands of Shirou and the devastating weapon he wielded.

Shirou himself had felt the brunt of this weapon on a number of occasions and wielded it in a destructive fashion. Torashinai seemed to purr after the taste of victory as Shirou placed it over his own shoulder, awaiting to see if anyone answered. "Extendoarms was too predictable," said one of the sidekicks, adjusting his glasses ever so slightly. "Also when Shirou was given an opportunity, Extendoarms panicked, likely from having watched the same thing happen so many times before. The bout only lasted fourteen seconds but we can assume that Shirou got an idea of Extendoarms fighting style by his name."

Extendoarms tried his best to not look too bashful as he scratched at the back of his head. "Try and think about how the rest of your body moves," suggested Shirou. "Even if you grip onto someone, let the rest of your body retract to where your hands are you can strike with a kick or a knee to the chest."

"I guess I am pretty predictable," said Extendoarms as he got to his feet, still feeling the effect of Shirou's strike.

"Alright guys, let's call it a day," said Ingenium and Shirou could see more than a few grateful exhales from several of his sidekicks who had been afraid that they would be next to face him and Torashinai. He honestly couldn't tell whether they were more afraid of him or the malevolent weapon he wielded. Dispersing the weapon and allowing it to fade out of existence he saw that perhaps it was Torashinai that they were more terrified of. Knowing the history of the weapon firsthand, it wasn't too surprising.

"I'll see you all here in the morning, don't stay out too late," stated Ingenium dismissing his sidekicks before turning his attention to Shirou. "Charming Clover and Riptide will escort you back to Musutafu and to your hotel."

"You got plans?" asked Shirou after taking a quick glance at the two people who would be escorting him back to the train station. Dressed in full superhero wear, Riptide wore shredded jeans and a navy blue vest that wasn't buttoned up, revealing his torso. Honestly he didn't look too much more than some sort of street punk that Ingenium may have found in some alleyway.

Charming Clover was a touch more sophisticated than her male counterpart, wearing a tight mint green dress that cut off just before her knees. She also donned a brown mask that fitted around her eyes and matched the colour of her hair which was tied in a ponytail. Thigh high boots the same colour as her dress completed the outfit, one which didn't tell Shirou anything about her quirk.

"Family dinner, my brother should have gotten his UA letter today revealing if he got into the hero course or not," explained Ingenium. "He's trying to follow in my and our parents footsteps. Hopefully the two of you can get along."

Shirou remained somewhat silent as that, this being the first time that Ingenium had mentioned that he had a brother. Frankly he hadn't pried much into the Hero's personal life, considering the fact he hadn't even been given his everyday name he figured that his home life was still pretty secretive.

The idea though that that Ingenium's brother was following in his family's footsteps reminded him of himself when he had been a child, choosing to follow in his adoptive father's footsteps to be a magus. With Ingenium as a role model, Shirou assumed that the younger brother of the family would have a similar sense of justice.

"Anyways, you should be heading off," said Ingenium, snapping Shirou out of his momentary thought process. "Thanks again for not going all out."

"They wouldn't be able to do their patrols if I'd left them incapacitiated," said Shirou with a shrug as if it was common knowledge. "I just wanted to exploit their weaknesses."

"Well we'll be working on that in the coming weeks," said Ingeinum sheepishly. He had a lot of sidekicks and their work out on the streets reflected on his agency, he needed them at the top of their game. "Hopefully, they'll figure out what it is that they need to improve on and if not I might motivate them by telling them that they'll get extra lessons with you."

Shirou couldn't help but chuckle lightly at the comment as both Riptide and Charming Clover came close to where he was standing. He hadn't combatted either of them beforehand but Riptide didn't seem too intimidated by him. Charming Clover was bit more hesitant but seemed grateful that she hadn't been assigned to do this by herself. "I'll be in your care," he said politely, stunning Charming Clover somewhat, making her bow lightly in response.

"Let's just get this over with," said Riptide with a grunt, clearly not pleased to be doing something he probably believed was beneath him. Shirou couldn't help but wonder if Ingenium had deliberately assigned these two people to teach another lesson of sorts.

"We'll be on our way," said Shirou, bidding Ingenium farewell.

"Keep safe," said Ingenium, knowing full well that between here and the hotel that Shirou was staying at that the chances of anything happening was slim at best.

...

Rin sipped at the tea that had been purchased for her by the person currently escorting her. A woman who was dressed in an incredibly provocative outfit that had more than a few people glance in their general direction. "Did you truly have to wear something so degrading?" she asked of the professional hero.

"Compared to my costume, this is nothing," said Midnight, a coy smile adorning her features.

"And yet somehow you will be one of my teachers this coming year," said Rin with a small shake of the head.

"I'd say you were being overconfident in young Shirou's abilities to score more than the rest of the examinees," said Midnight as she leant back in her chair before reaching in between her breasts and pulling out a letter that Rin was certain shouldn't have fit in the first place. "We can open this up now and see if you're accepted after all. I know the deal that was made, if Shirou didn't get the top position then it'd be up to me to capture you before you escape."

Rin could tell that Midnight was clearly having fun with this. Thankfully, two could play it this way. "Please, I'm far too young and spritely for someone like yourself to catch." It didn't matter that she had technically lived for many more years than Midnight had but currently she was in the form of a teenage girl and she was going to use it to her advantage.

The twitch in Midnight's left eye confirmed that Rin had just won the first of potentially many battles.

"Feisty," said Midnight through gritted teeth, placing the letter on the table before composing herself. "Having seen your performance against my peers, I know that you are quite formidable. However, against my quirk you would be powerless. I'd be carrying you into custody without any hassle whatsoever."

Rin didn't doubt it. Considering the danger that she and Shirou posed were they to become hostile, it was understandable that she was currently in the company of someone who had the ability to apprehend her. She doubted that it would be done through brute force however, they were in a public place where the chances of civilians being injured was far too high. Her musings became distracted as a small piece of raspberry cheesecake was placed down in front of her while a slice of chocolate mud cake was placed in front of Midnight.

"You know," said Rin as the waitress moved away, "The rate of metabolism slows down with age, are you sure you should be eating that? Wouldn't want to ruin your figure after all."

Rin could almost see the throbbing of a vein.

"I will have you know that I have no issue with my metabolism," said Midnight as her cutlery sliced through her cake with ease. "What about you? You wouldn't want to scare off Shirou with some extra body fat."

Considering the battlefields and gore that Shirou had been exposed to, Rin sincerely doubted that Shirou would be afraid of a little bit of body fat. "I will have you know that I have no problems with my weight and doubt I will have anytime soon," declared Rin, having lived many more decades and knowing full well that she had kept a very nice figure through the years.

"So confident that your man will remain faithful," said Midnight coyly.

"You have no idea," said Rin as she sliced off another piece of cake.

"What about yourself, do you believe you won't find someone more handsome and charming than 'blade boy?'"

"Blade boy? Is that really what you just called him?"

"What, he's a teenager that summons swords, what do you think his Professional Hero name would be?"

Rin didn't need to think about what name Shirou would go with. She already knew.

...

Night had fallen by the time the train that they had boarded back in Hosu had arrived, Charming Clover having eventually overcome her timidness and made for quite a good conversationalist Shirou had found. Once she had gotten out of her shell, Shirou had found it difficult to get her to be quiet.

Riptide hadn't said a thing the entire time.

Now they walked down the streets of Musutafu, Riptide and Charming Clover walking on his right and left respectively, their way forward illuminated by street lights and the moon shining high above. The crowd parted for their path and Shirou couldn't help but feel that those watching saw him being led away for some sort of criminal activity he had conducted.

Turning around the corner, the air hit them with an unsettling chill and Shirou paused moments before either of his two escorts realized. He wished that it was a blast of fresh air that had come from the greenery surrounding the path they wanted to walk through. "Shirou?" asked Charming Clover, looking over her shoulder where the teenager had come to a stop. Riptide meanwhile was looking dead ahead at the person who stood in the park they had intended on walking through.

"If you two wouldn't mind, I'd like to have a conversation with Mister Emiya," said the man, or at least the spectre of a man standing before them. They wore a suit and tie on their body, or lack thereof. As opposed to skin and flesh his body seemed to only be composed of a black mist, golden yellow slits where eyes should be.

"There'll be none of that now," said Riptide as he smashed his fists together. Charming Clover put her hands out to the side, the leaves of the trees nearby falling off their respective branches before swarming behind her, circling around in a menacing swirl. While impressive to look at, Shirou was uncertain what kind of affect it would have in battle. That was on the pretense Charming Clover was fighting alone. If she was supposed to provide the distraction, then Shirou could only imagine that Riptide was the heavy hitter.

He would never get the chance to see.

"I think it would be best to get rid of the sidekicks, don't you agree?"

That was all the warning they were given before twin black vortexes were summoned out of the darkness of night, enveloping both Riptide and Charming Clover. Shirou could hear their cries of panic as they fought against the black that surrounded them and the screams of those who were witnessing the event firsthand. Shirou meanwhile kept his eyes locked on the target in front of him.

The cries of the two people that Ingenium had assigned to him vanished and Shirou remained unmoved. "I'll have you know that they're not dead," said the man made of mist.

"Teleportation?"

"Very good," he said. "You have solid analytical skills. You're two companions are currently located atop the high rise behind you. As you can imagine, it would have been very easy for me to have sent them about thirty feet to the right and have them plummet to the ground."

"Now, would you join me somewhere more private?" he asked as a portal opened up to his side.

Shirou knew that it wasn't an offer persay, but a command. Were he to refuse and attack or perhaps even try to run, there was no telling what might happen to the two sidekicks currently residing atop the tall building or even perhaps the nearby civilians. He also knew that if the person before him wanted to attack, or even attempt to kill him he wouldn't have been able to react to being teleported hundreds of metres into the air. While the first couple of seconds would have been startling, there was little chance that he would have died from such an attempt on his life but that didn't mean that the man before him wouldn't try.

"Please don't make me wait any longer than necessary," the man said, clearly not liking the fact that he was being out in the open so long.

Not wanting to cause the man to do something rash, Shirou walked forward. If this man wanted to have a conversation, then a conversation they would have. Shirou would then deal with him afterwards if necessary.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia and Fate/Stay Night**

**...**

Shirou's eyes darted from side to side as he examined his surroundings. To his right was the sole door to the room and the likely only exit that didn't involve teleporting. To the left was a television running static, the volume though was thankfully muted. Dead ahead was a bar, run down and minimal stock. Then there was the only other occupant in the room outside of himself, and the black mist man who stepped through the portal before it closed behind him.

The occupant was a gangly man, pasty skin starkly contrasting the black attire he wore. That wasn't the only thing he wore however. Severed hands latched themselves to the man's arms, shoulders, neck and one even clung to his face, eyes only barely able to peek through the gaps between fingers. He tilted his head to the side and Shirou could tell that the person was eyeing him up, likely judging what he was capable of.

Taking a page out of Gilgamesh's book, Shirou acted. It took only a second for both the construction of the broadsword to be completed and even shorter for it to shoot forward from above Shirou's shoulder. The silver blade struck true, piercing the wall behind the bar with the edge's just missing the spirit bottles on the shelf by the barest of margins. Several strands of hair falling after having been removed from the man's head, having not flinched in the slightest as the weapon sailed past his features.

"That's a rude hello," said the man finally after what seemed like a tense moment.

"Sorry if I'm being a little more aggressive than usual, these things should be expected though after being kidnapped," said Shirou with a shrug of the shoulder.

"I'd recommend not doing something like that again," said the mist man as he stepped behind the bar. Whispy fingers gripped around the handle of the sword before he tried to pull the weapon out of the wall. Not surprisingly, he didn't have much luck. Seeing the futile struggle, Shirou allowed the sword to vanish into nothingness.

"So why am I here?" asked Shirou crossing his arms over his chest.

"You're pretty famous, you know that," said the person sitting down. "You come out of nowhere and within two hours the whole world has seen your face."

"I assure you, the idea of having my face plastered across the internet was not on my list of things to do at the start of the day," stated Shirou.

"Funny, how days and nights can be well and truly planned out in advance but at the end of it, nothing goes the way it should. We have a plan however and you can be an integral part to make sure that it goes the way it should."

"And what is it that you plan to do?"

"We want to kill All Might."

It was a cold, calculated statement. For most, the mere thought that people wished to kill the number one Professional Hero would be paramount to suicide. The strongest there was, even to challenge him was an inconceivable idea. Yet here was a man, wishing to challenge the strongest man and still had the confidence that he could walk away victorious. The sheer audacity! Now the true question was, how would Shirou react? The teenager, who with his partner, had fought against numerous heroes in the middle of the day and was victorious against a large number of them.

"Who?"

There was a pause before the person wearing the hands began to laugh. At first it started as a chuckle before he leant backwards and laughed maniacally. "Yes! Who exactly? He is a man like any other and it doesn't matter how strong they are, all men must die! The symbol of peace will fall like any other!"

Shirou meanwhile listened on curiously. It was clear his question had been misunderstood for he truly didn't know who this All Might person was. He figured that it was the name of a Professional Hero but there were so many of them in Japan, let alone the world that there was no chance of him remembering them all, even though it did sound vaguely familiar. Perhaps he had seen the name plastered in a cereal box while purchasing groceries one day?

"Now," said the man, a wicked smile plastered on his face. "I believe proper introductions are in order. After all we are the League of Villains."

...

Rin was sitting in the penthouse, arms crossed as her fingers drummed on her forearm in a steady beat as she gazed at the three people that currently occupied the vicinity with her. Midnight had remained after having joined her for tea and cake earlier in the day. She had thought that after having bested her in verbal combat on more than one occasion that the provocative person would have simply let her be after escorting her back to the hotel. That however was not the case; Midnight having spotted the facilities that had been provided to Rin and Shirou and had promptly invited herself in under the pretense that she had to ensure that two of her future students were behaving in a respectable manner. Rin wasn't quite sure what Midnight determined as 'respectable manner' but she truly believed that it didn't correspond with her own version. Especially after the woman had made herself comfortable in her area of living and then decided to invite a couple of her friends over.

Currently seated on the couch was the instigator of this whole debacle, seeming well too jovial in her attempts to get under Rin's skin. Rin would deny the whole idea that she had brought this on herself.

On Midnight's right was a Uwabami who Rin had immediately felt mildly intimidated by. It wasn't due to the woman herself mind you, Midnight having introduced her as a professional hero who had a side career in modelling, perhaps explaining the elegant dress she wore. It was more due to the fact that atop the woman's head were three snakes! Three individual snakes protruded from her golden locks, likely attached to her scalp as if they were overly large strands of hair. That had scales...and perhaps their own sense of consciousness. Rin swore that the one closest to her had yet to take it's beady eyes off of her. Uwabami told her to pay them no mind but that was easier said than done.

The other woman was sitting on the recliner opposite Rin and was dressed in a far more casual attire, wearing jeans and a jacket while her right eye was covered by the fringe of her hair. While Midnight and Uwabami seemed content with gossiping away, Ryukyu seemed fine with just listening in and adding to the conversation when she was asked for her opinion on the matter. Outside of these times, she, along with Uwabami's snake, seemed to watch Rin intently. It also didn't help that Midnight had introduced the woman as the second highest ranking female pro hero, coming in at eighth overall in the rankings.

"You know, you have a lovely complexion Rin," said Uwabami as she tried to include the teenager into the conversation. "One day I might ask you to join me in some promotional work."

"Thank you for the offer," said Rin. "However I believe my prowess is better suited to situations behind the scenes as opposed to flaunting myself in front of a camera like some floozy."

"It is unwise to cut off potential connections so early in your career," said Ryukyu as Uwabami pouted, having felt mildly insulted by having been referred to as a floozy. "You should keep an open mind and use these years to make connections that may benefit you in the future."

Rin blinked several times, not so much taking in the advice that Ryukyu was trying to give but for the first time in a long time it seemed as if someone was actually trying to look out for her. Perhaps Ryukyu was actually a hero not for fame and fortune, but actually someone who would save people because they felt it was the right thing to do. If given the chance, Rin would have to make sure Ryukyu and Shirou met sometime in the future.

Speaking of Shirou, it seemed as if he was running late. As if like magic, as soon as the thought had crossed her mind there was a knocking on the door and Rin simply thought that Shirou had forgotten his key.

"That'd be the room service!" announced Midnight, practically leaping up from her seat.

Apparently not.

It turned out that Midnight had not been shy in ordering things off of the hotel menu, including a fancy bottle of champagne that sat in a fancy bucket filled with ice. "Are we celebrating anything?" asked Ryukyu, wondering why Midnight had gone all out on the order. Rin knew however that since U.A was footing the bill for her and Shirou to be staying here that anything put on the room would be covered as well. She and Shirou had yet to use the service personally, Shirou having taken full control of the room's kitchen facilities. It seemed at the end of the day the professional hero was looking for both a free meal and a free way to entertain her guests, despite the fact it wasn't even her hotel room.

"Why don't you toast to the fact that Midnight has gone another year without wrinkles?" suggested Rin as the aforementioned Hero reached for the bottle in question.

"I believe you don't need a reason to enjoy time with friends," said Midnight, her left eye twitching ever so slightly.

"You know that whole thing I said about cutting off potential contacts?" said Ryukyu. "You are aware that Midnight will be one of your teachers at U.A, perhaps trying to get under her skin is unwise."

"Please, getting under her skin has given me hours of entertainment today," said Rin. "If it means she tries to issue me a detention as a result of past disagreements I can report to the principal and lodge a complaint. Who knows, enough complaints from students might result in her being removed from her position."

"It's statements like that which make me glad that you're not going to be in the hero course," said Uwabami as she partook in some of the nibbles that had been delivered. "I fear that after your graduation you would have bulldozed your way through the rankings with underhanded tactics all the way."

"That's why you're in the general studies department!" shouted Midnight as she slammed her hands on the table, as if having just solved a murder case. "You're going to be Shirou's manager!"

"A manager," scoffed Rin. "While I could make the road easier for him, Shirou wouldn't accept that. He'll only want to be a hero by his own skills and merits." Besides, Rin had a far more important role to play.

"Oh, and how far do you think his skills will get him?" asked Uwabami.

"To the top."

"That's some lofty aspirations," said Ryukyu. "I know how ruthless the path to the summit is. He will likely need your support on this journey and if you're willing to help him on this quest then he is lucky to have a friend like you."

Of the heroes that Rin had encountered during her brief time in this world, Ryukyu was definitely her favourite by a long margin.

"Well then," said Midnight as she popped the cork off of the champagne. "I propose we toast to Shirou and the next generation in their quest to the top."

"Hopefully those who teach us don't prevent us from reaching our full potential due to their own incompetence," said Rin, causing Midnight to spill a handful of drops onto the coffee table. Ignoring the spillage, the hero passed a glass to both Uwabami and Ryukyu, the three of them simultaneously raising the glasses in the air before taking a sip of the liquid within.

Before they had even finished their initial tasting, the door to the penthouse opened once more, Shirou walking in. "Oh, I didn't know we were expecting guests," he said as he closed the door behind him.

"We weren't," remarked Rin. "Why are you home so late?"

"I got kidnapped," said Shirou, the words causing the glass in Uwabami's hand to slip before shattering on the ground. Midnight and Ryukyu meanwhile just sat there with stunned looks on their faces as Rin rubbed at her eyes.

"Only you Shirou, only you."

...

Two hours later, after police interviews and the three female heroes having done their best to make sure that Shirou was okay (Rin definitely not appreciating the level of closeness that Midnight was trying to insinuate with him), the two of them were finally left alone. Rin knew the moment that Shirou walked in and announced his kidnapping that the fact he was fine spoke many things that the Heroes would never know. Even the police in their interrogation had wanted to know names, locations and the like but Shirou had merely stated that one of the men had a teleportation power which had been used to send him to and from the hideout. The police begrudgingly left after being unable to get anything more than some descriptions of characteristics and their plans.

"I'm surprised you didn't just kill them," said Rin as she plonked herself on the couch, glad to be rid of the extra company.

"The hand guy isn't a bad person," said Shirou as he moved to the kitchen to prepare something light for the two of them to snack on before they went to bed. "Listening to his ideas and conviction, it was almost as if listening to a child declare how they were the strongest with no idea of what the real world was like."

"So what, you're hoping that reality will slap him in the face one day and he'll realize his mistakes?"

"He's too immature at the moment to see how big the world is," said Shirou from his sanctuary. "Once his plan fails he'll find that he has to either change as a person or die."

"So you didn't join them or anything did you?"

"No."

Rin allowed a sigh to escape her lips as she closed her eyes. The fact that they had simply allowed Shirou to walk away, meant that there was a larger game at play. They knew he would discuss the plan with someone, almost anybody would inform the authorities that such malevolence was being planned in the background. Shirou wasn't just anybody however and had it only been him and Rin alone that night then the information would have likely have never gone anywhere. It was just unfortunate that the three professional heroes had been in attendance.

She couldn't help but feel that they were on the back foot.

She hated being on the back foot.

...

The rest of their free time flew by quickly, including the time where they were given their new living arrangements. A couple of the members of staff had created two identical concrete cottages in the corner of the facility. Thankfully, with the ridiculous sizing of both the school and the land it operated on, there was little chance that anyone would simply stumble upon their living arrangements.

That hadn't prevented Rin from creating some defences of her own were anyone to approach with malice on the mind. They had also been told that over the next couple of evenings they would be permitted to go to the local shopping centre and purchase appropriate decorative items to make their housing more homely. Rin would undoubtedly go over her allotted budget.

The two students walked side by side through the halls as the rest of the students made their way in from off campus. Eventually they came to the door for classroom 1-C, the general studies room which Rin would be learning for the foreseeable future. "Don't do anything reckless now," said Shirou with a cheeky smile.

"Please, as if I would do anything reckless," said Rin as she flicked a few loose strands of hair over her shoulder.

"I seem to recall a certain girl attacking me in the corridors of a school once before..." started Shirou, earning a hit to his shoulder in response.

"Go to your own classroom already," said Rin, dismissing Shirou who wouldn't help the smile on his face from spreading ever so slightly.

It only took him another couple of minutes to navigate the halls and find his own classroom, slightly pleased to find that he was not the first one in attendance, although there was only one other student present. "Ah, it is good to see another student so punctual..." they started before their eyes sharpened.

"You!"

"Me?" questioned Shirou as the door shut behind him.

"You're the one who attacked my brother!" they shouted, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"Brother?" repeated Shirou before the door behind him was nearly kicked off its hinges.

"One of you shitheads better be the person who stole my place at the top!" they shouted as they barged their way into the room.

Shirou meanwhile couldn't help but feel as if he had already found himself in an unfavourable position.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

**...**

Aizawa shuffled to the front of the class, still clad in his sleeping bag. The professional hero took in the looks sent his way by the students that he would be teaching this year. He knew they were looking at him in more of a state of confusion, after all the teachers here at U.A were all professional heroes and he was somebody that nobody would recognize without his gear on. His disheveled look was haggard at best, completely unpresentable on the media front.

"It took eight seconds for you to quiet down," he said stoically after having shrugged off his sleeping bag. "Time is a precious resource. You lot aren't very rational, are you?"

He could see in the eyes of those before him that a number were still confused, possibly about his looks or hopefully about what he had said. He could see though that there definitely at least one student who understood what he was saying. Shirou Emiya, the student who scored the highest score in the opening exam. The student who also had to score the highest score or he wouldn't have been accepted at all into the academy, regardless of his skill level. Shirou was looking at him with a sense of understanding, eyes which understood that time was far more valuable than any currency in the world.

"I'm your homeroom teacher, Shoto Aizawa. Pleased to meet you." Rummaging through the sleeping bag he had only just gotten out of, he pulled out a set of gym clothes. "Quickly now. Change into your gym clothes and head out to the grounds."

They all stood up and shuffled out towards where the changing room was located, Aizawa watching them one by one. As one of the students walked past however he grabbed them on the shoulder and pulled them out of the line. "Can I help you sensei?" asked Shirou.

"I just wanted a quick word," stated Aizawa as the last of the remaining students left the room. "After all, not all students get such special treatment as you."

"I believe that not all students have the ultimatum that if they don't rank as the highest in the entry exam they are sent into a juvenile facility," said Shirou. His comments caused the smallest of smiles to spread across Aizawa's face.

*"At least we know where we stand," said the teacher. "We had quite a few meetings about you ad your friend. Cementoss even went out of his way to build the two of you two homes on campus. Just as they were built so easily, so too can they be taken down as easily."

"If that a threat sensei?"

"A number of students and faculty members were able to hear Bakugo's outburst from down the halls. The confrontation may have been momentarily neutralized but don't think for a second that if you step out of line attempting to quell the situation, you may very well force my hand."

Even though there was quite a bit left unsaid as Aizawa stepped out of the room, Shirou opted not to pursue any further conversation. He knew that his time in this academy would be monitored more than any other student whom he was studying with. It was kind of a given thanks to the circumstances which forced him to be a prisoner of this institute. Any signs that he was heading towards a path of villainy in the eyes of the faculty would result in immediate expulsion and his arrest. Or at least they would try to arrest him.

Try being the optimal word.

...

"Whoa, this is awesome!"

"Seven hundred and five metres, seriously?"

"So we can use our quirks for real? The hero course is great!"

Yaoyorozu listened to the chatter happening around her, many of them gushing over Bakugo's ability to launch the ball such a distance. She knew that such tests were necessary and even though it was almost a bit premature considering it was the first thing they were doing together as a class it wasn't too unexpected. She was more than confident in her own abilities, both having gotten through to the hero course via a recommendation and in her knowledge of what she was capable of. That was more than impressive in its own right but she couldn't help but be interested in seeing the skill levels of her peers.

Looking around at said peers, many of them had gone into momentary shock the moment that their sensei had declared that the student who scored the lowest over the eight events would be expelled. She had no fear of ranking so low amongst those around her and watching how some reacted told her a lot about their character. As Aizawa continued talking she took in some of the more exuberant of reactions.

A few were nervous, almost to the point of panic while others seemed to have become more focused. More than a few were smiling, as if pleased to have this opportunity to demonstrate their abilities. Then there were those who had no emotion to the news whatsoever. Two stood out. One was the boy with dual coloured hair and the burn mark across his left eye. He was almost stoic in his reaction, unfazed by those around him.

Then there was the red haired student who was gazing at everyone with analytical eyes. At first she thought that he was simply sizing up the competition. That was until their eyes met. She could feel her breath catch in her throat as the student looked at her and she felt her body stiffen ever so slightly. It was as if simply by looking at her he was asking her a simple question.

Why are you here?

His gaze moved on to the person next to her and she still found it difficult to relax. How long had they maintained eye contact? Surely no longer than a couple of seconds but she couldn't help but feel that in those few seconds he had learned a lot more about her than she had about him.

"We'll start with the fifty metre dash," declared Aizawa, snapping Yaoyorozu out of her stupor, noticing that the area where they would be tested had already been set up. "Yaoyorozu, Emiya, the two of you are first. Remember to use your abilities to the fullest."

Switching back into game mode, Yaoyorozu lightly slapped at her cheeks as she and the person whom had rattled her so stepped forward to the starting line. She was accepted into the Hero course through a recommendation and she was determined to show that she was worthy of having been given such an honour.

Unfortunately she couldn't think of any way to increase her time. Skates would potentially work but they were more suited to a concrete floor and would risk losing traction across the dirt surface. It was within her power to craft a bicycle but precious seconds would be wasted getting onto her mode of transportation and getting started. Complicated physics equations started running through her head as she tried to figure out other ways in which she could lower her time.

"On your marks," stated Aizawa.

Momo blinked before taking her position. Why was she so rattled? She should have been able to come up with a simple solution. Why was nothing coming to mind?

Was it all because of the person next to her?

"Go!"

Yaoyorozu ran. She would finish in a more than admirable six point four nine seconds but would later have a restless night, her mind going over every possible way in which she could have bettered her run. Especially with what Shirou accomplished.

Four point eight three. An incredible feat, one which was getting a mild applause from those watching but they likely hadn't noticed what she had.

Shirou had ran. That was all. As far as she could tell, there was no use of a quirk. That was his base speed. That was on the proviso that his quirk didn't enhance his natural ability but she had seen nothing that suggested it. Also it didn't help that while she currently had her hands on her knees taking in deep breaths, Shirou didn't look exhausted in the slightest. Was this a game to him? Could he have gone faster? How long could he keep up that speed?

Who was Shirou?

...

Grip strength.

Standing long jump.

Side stepping.

While Shirou didn't rank the highest out of those around him, he had definitely found himself in the upper echelon of those around his current age. At the same time though he hadn't pushed himself to what he was truly capable of. Mostly because he wouldn't be able to justify what they believed his quirk was.

As far as they were aware, he had a weapon creation quirk, one which centred mostly around bladed weapons. If only they had any true idea of how deep his abilities truly went.

His physical abilities had to be at their peak. He had lost count of the amount of times he had been sent to tackle something which others had dared not cross. Shirou had to be stronger, faster, better in order to survive. So he became stronger, faster, better, his body reaching the peaks that he could achieve before striving to climb even higher.

This was all before he added his reinforcement to the mix.

He had yet to apply any of his reinforcement to any of these tests, his natural abilities already bordering on superhuman. He had always pushed himself, having felt so outclassed by the Heroes that had been summoned during the Holy Grail war went to show just how weak he was. Starting with his pitiful bout with Lancer to going head to head with Gilgamesh. While none he had encountered afterwards had been as terrifying as the heroic spirits that had been summoned from different eras, he had always been more than aptly prepared for any potential confrontation.

Or at least he had hoped so.

"Shirou, you're up," declared Aizawa, tossing the ball to his student.

Catching it nonchalantly, Shirou stepped up to the circle and momentarily considered his options. He had yet to show off what these people believed his 'quirk' truly was and this was an event designed to display his abilities. The record at the moment still stood at Bakugo's original seven hundred and five metres, Shirou not really counting Uraraka's ball having been defined as going an infinite distance. That was a technicality at the best.

There was a wide range of distances that had been thrown, the greatest out of pure strength having gone to the Shoji, the teenage student who had had the strongest grip strength amongst his peers. On the complete other side of the spectrum thus far had been Mineta, the diminutive kid with purple balls growing from his head had amassed a whole hearted twenty six metres.

Shirou knew that he could easily reach a distance far greater than any who had gone before, Uraraka not counting. The one joy of having been sent out to track down and defeat innumerable targets meant that his arsenal grow with every battle. He could bring forth something as common as a baseball bat and hit the ball around the three hundred metre mark, four to five if he added a touch of reinforcement.

Alternatively he could use a touch of his weaponry. He could bring forth the traditional Yumi, or perhaps even craft an English Longbow, pierce the ball on an arrow and put his teenage years of archery training to the test. If he wanted to be a complete showoff he could use the bow he had witnessed Archer use against Caster back at Ryuudou temple. Archer's original weapon, one without a name yet strong enough to carry the necessary burden brought forth by the sheer power of Noble Phantasms.

An incredible bow, one which could launch a projectile miles further than Bakugo's explosive throw.

Yet he had no intention of showing these guys what he was truly capable of.

He threw the ball. The object was launched, far further than what anybody could have imagined possible without any sort of quirk being shown. Once again, it didn't break any records but it would definitely cause some eyebrows to be raised.

...

Shirou had expected this, of course he had. The entire time that the test was going on he knew he alone was being specifically watched. Sadly, it wasn't by Aizawa, he had plans well in place to deal with the stoic teacher were he to raise some questions.

Sadly he had been prevented from leaving by a number of his classmates, iIt would seem that he had gotten the attention of a number of those who weren't exactly thrilled by his results. Five of them to be precise.

Bakugo and Kirishima had been expected, both of them were hot headed from what he had seen and had pushed themselves during the tests. It was weird seeing their competitiveness and having a small knowing that the two of them would likely drive each other to greater heights.

Iida was another one who wasn't surprising, though his vendetta still probably stemmed from the incident earlier in the day as opposed to what happened during their display of skills.

The last two were more than a little surprising. Yaoyorozu had been giving him off looks throughout the day ever since they had locked eyes before the two of them had raced in the first test. Even during the classes in between then and now he had felt her eyes wander onto him as he did his work.

The final student who had decided to momentarily miss the lunch break was Todoroki. Shirou had yet to interact with the quiet student but it was clear during the testing period that he had the potential to become someone special. The way he had used his ice quirk had shown that he had a good grasp on what he was capable of but Shirou had an inkling suspicion that Todoroki hadn't gone all out during the tests either. It would be interesting to see just what the ice wielder was truly able to accomplish.

"I don't know why these guys are here, but what I wanna know is why is a villain like you at a school for heroes?" asked Kirishima, the brass teenager breaking the somewhat awkward silence.

"The deal between me and the faculty is none of your concern," declared Shirou.

"No, it doesn't. What I do care about is the safety of..."

"If you're worried about me attacking any of the students here, don't. I'm not that kind of person," assured Shirou, earning a scoff from Bakugo.

"And we're meant to believe you villain, after you fought my brother and all those other heroes?" asked Iida, clearly not believing a word Shirou was saying. Considering the 'minor' altercation they got into this morning before class had even begun it was clear that Iida's opinion would be more than a little biased.

"What is a hero? What is a villain? Who determines who is given these labels? Why must everything be on such different sides of the spectrum? I know of those who steal in order to provide food for starving children, if they are caught then those kids will die. I know of those who do good, there public face a beacon for all to see before they return to the lab and experiment on human guinea pigs who beg for the sweet release of death."

Shirou was painting a picture for them and it was clear that they were more than a little uncomfortable with what he was saying. Yaoyorozu had gone slightly more pale in the cheeks and even the normally poker faced Todoroki seemed to be swallowing a lump that had formed in his throat.

"You are all here to become heroes, at least in the most commonplace version of the word," continued Shirou. "What happens when you leave here and the masses know your names? Will they chant for you in the streets or be pleading for you to hold off the enemy until someone stronger arrives? Never stop pushing yourselves and become the hero that people can count on in any situation."

"And what about you?" asked Todoroki. "Will the people call for you in the streets to come save them?"

"No," said Shirou slowly. "If people are going to be saved..."

"Are going to be saved?" repeated Kirishima. "You make it sound like heroes fail to..."

"They do, heroes fail all the time either to those they are trying to protect...or themselves," said Shirou momentarily recalling Archer, the false hero who had fallen from his ideals. The false hero he so desperately wished he could simply forget but knew deep down that he never would be able to. The false hero who he had become. The false hero that he had the potential to become.

Taking a breath, Shirou focused on those around him. "The word hero has changed a lot over history, the world we live in today is proof of that. In centuries to come though, your names will be nothing more than a part of a list of those who failed to stand out; one of hundreds if not thousands of those who decided that they were content to be just another hero."

As Shirou moved towards the exit, his part having been said he could hear the clenching of a fist behind him. "I'm going to be number one you here!" shouted Bakugo though Shirou paid it minimal thought. It was good to have aspirations to be the best in the world, because only then could you see how difficult the path to become the best truly was.

"Man, that totally didn't go the way I thought it would," said Kirishima as he placed his hands on the back of his head.

"You wished to catch him plotting something nefarious?" asked Iida as Bajugo stomped out of the classroom, each step banging on the floor.

"Nah, I wanted to try and figure out why he attacked the heroes back then," said Kirishima with a shrug. "Everyone had an idea as to why but nobody knows the truth. Even hearing what he had to say makes you know that the answer is nowhere near as simple as it should be."

"Agreed," said Iida, albeit mildly reluctantly. "Might I inquire as to your thoughts on the matter Yaoyorozu?"

"Well," started Momo, momentarily trying to get her thoughts to align. "I know I for one am here to show the world that I am someone worthy of being a hero. At least I thought I was."

She was shaken, it was clear to see. Those who had observed her at the start of the day had seen a woman full of confidence, ready to tackle any and all obstacles before her. Not even a full day had passed and already her confidence had waned greatly. All because of one person.

Todoroki pushed himself off of the wall he had been leaning against and started heading towards the exit. "Do you have nothing to add?" asked Iida, causing the teenager to stop in his tracks.

There were several seconds of silence before Todoroki gave his answer. "Nothing I say will make a difference." As he exited three words rang through the remaining students minds. Make a difference. Could they make a difference in this world? Unfortunately as they answered that they would make a difference, they couldn't do so with the conviction they so desperately wished they could muster.

...

"This is highly irregular Aizawa," said All Might.

"Irregular or not he is in my class and as such plays by my rules," stated the quirk cancelling teacher. "It's not as if he can't handle the situation."

"What does this show the other students?"

"That even in unfair situations the person with the greater amount of skill will be victorious."

"You're wanting me to test their dedication to becoming a hero?"

"Something like that," said Aizawa with a shrug of his shoulders as he left All Might alone, his spiel having been said. The top hero would be hosting battle training the following afternoon and if he did as he was told, it would definitely be a training not to miss.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night or My Hero Academia**

**...**

Midoriya stared at the roof, his bedroom encased in darkness with the sun having set hours prior. Sleep was eluding him thus far despite being moderately exhausted from his first day of school at U.A. Having ended the day with the lowest overall score in the physical examinations meant that his journey had only just begun. Getting into the prestigious academy had only been the first step to become the greatest but first he had to survive whatever the school would throw at him.

Which also included his classmates.

Kacchan had tried to confront him after he had launched the ball which was only mildly surprising, despite how terrifying the situation was. It was inevitable, at some point Kacchan would confront him and he would need to be prepared for whatever the volatile boy had in store. He just hoped between now and then he would have some sort of way to channel One for All without having to visit Recovery Girl afterwards.

Despite how high of a hurdle it would be to overcome, Kacchan had ranked third overall amongst his peers as opposed to his dismal last place. There were still two students who had managed to score higher.

Todoroki and Emiya.

That wasn't dismissing any of the other students who ranked above him. Each had fought and scrapped their way past hundreds of other applicants to become students at the academy and each had something to give. Now it was up to him to scrape and crawl his way to become a hero alongside his peers.

He knew it was going to be hard. Other children had already had a number of years to hone and develop their skills and to know just what they were capable of. He had little to no experience using One for All and the school schedule didn't give him much time to hone his newfound powers. He needed to train but there was only so much time where All Might could train him one on one and the laws prevented him from learning out in public and the powers of One for All were not appropriate for inside the home.

That unfortunately meant that his trial and error ways of testing what he was capable of would be limited to the school grounds. He needed somebody to train him when All Might couldn't. Someone who had a quirk that wasn't completely different from his own. Thinking of those near the top of the class rankings, there was only one he could think of that had shown abilities that seemed similar. Emiya had utilized nothing but his raw strength, speed and talent to claim the top spot of the class.

That was who he needed to help him become better.

Now he just had to figure out how best to approach him.

...

Eighth.

She had ranked Eighth.

She. Momo Yaoyorozu. A student who had gotten in through official recommendations had failed to rank in the top third of her peers.

A child prodigy who had expected to stand atop her classmates had fallen so short of her expectations within the first day. She hadn't even been able to front her parents about it, having had dinner brought to her room that evening, telling the staff that she was unwell and wished to rest.

She sat there, the flicker of a lit candle burning brightly by her side as she read, her expansive knowledge growing ever more as she learned about more things that she could potentially make with her quirk. That was what her quirk was about at the end of the day. Creation. The higher range of items she could make, the stronger as a hero she would be.

She had to redeem herself. Prove that she was worthy of having been recommended to such a prestigious hero school. That would mean confronting the greatest obstacle she had ever come across.

Shirou Emiya.

Even thinking about him caused her to remember those cold, calculating eyes. Eyes that seemed as if hope had been drained from them. Just what had Emiya been through? The words he had spoken after class had haunted her through the rest of the day and made her question just what kind of Hero she wanted to be? It also made her question why she wanted to be a hero in the first place.

Slamming the book shut, Yaoyorozu purged those thoughts from her mind. Tomorrow was another day to prove herself amongst her peers and as she blew out the candle, she knew just who she had to impress most of all.

She would impress him.

She had to.

...

"I'm...coming through the door like a normal person!" announced All Might as he walked into the classroom. Emiya was, so far, not impressed. Sure this was only the first time he had seen the hero and it wasn't in action. Apparently though he was the top hero, his kidnappers apparently wishing to kill this hero alone. He could understand their reasoning. If you want to make the biggest of splashes you took down the biggest out there. Simple.

He knew that you couldn't simply judge the professional hero just on looks alone, even if he did paint a mildly intimidating picture despite that cheesy smile seemingly plastered on his face. He doubted All Might had the ability to compete with any of the heroes he had confronted in the past but still he wouldn't pass judgement until he had seen just what the man could do.

"Hero Basic Training! The class that will put you through all sorts of special training to mold you into heroes! No time to dally! Today's activity is this! Battle training!" declared All Might, each sentence seemingly roaring with power.

While a majority of the students suddenly got excited for their afternoon classes, Shirou couldn't help but wonder what kind of conditions those around him would be exposed to. Being a first class, he imagined that it would be something simple for them to show off in front of their peers. The athletic testing the previous day might have shown off what they were capable of in a very specific scenario. Battle was a completely different game with unpredictable situations that those participating had to adapt to constantly.

Shirou couldn't help but wonder how many of those sitting in the class with him right now would deal with some of the simpler situations he had encountered. Unfortunately, he didn't think many of them would make it on a true battlefield.

"In accordance with the 'Quirk Registry' and the special request forms you filled out before being admitted..."

"COSTUMES!" shouted a multitude of the students.

"After you change, come out in ranking order to Ground Beta!" instructed All Might as the costumes were handed out. "Looking good is very important ladies and gentlemen!"

...

All Might smiled as he always did whilst he waited for the first student to arrive. He hadn't been kidding when he had said that looking good was important. Not so much for the heroes themselves, but rather for the community who watched them. The people needed to recognize the hero before them to feel a sense of comfort despite how horrifying the situation might be. A costume was a symbol, a symbol that informed those in need that they would be rescued.

Turning his head slightly, All Might could see the silhouette of the first trainee approaching. There was a reason why students were made to come out in the order they ranked in during their test the previous day. It was so that those behind them could see their goal, to see the objective in front of them and know that the next person stronger than them was only fingertips away. It kept the competitive spirit alive, even when ranking professionally. Nobody truly wished to be seen as if they were lower than the previous year, fear that their prime was behind them had a terrifying way of spurring one onwards again.

He was sure that many in Class 1-A wished to claim the number one position off of this student. The villain who was strongarmed into becoming a hero in training, someone who had already shown that they could handle what the real world was capable of dishing out. It would seem though that he had chosen to go something rather simplistic with his heroic attire. In fact, many would struggle to call it the costume of a hero in the first place though it wouldn't necessarily be something that somebody would associate with a villain either.

The outfit spoke of solitude, isolation almost. It consisted mostly of a form fitting black mesh suit, perhaps something akin to body armour which covered his torso yet left his arms open though his hands were protected by fingerless gloves (All Might assumed was made from the same protective material). The only colour on the top half of his attire was dull silver, the contrasting colour lined perfectly with Shirou's muscle structure. As for the legs, they were covered in casual black trousers which had plating protecting the ligaments. On his feet were black shoes which seemed to have metal plating protecting his toes.

There was one thing which made All Might know that this entire ensemble wasn't crafted by any of the regular support companies affiliated with the school. That was the cape that he wore. It might have been white when it had first been created but it seemed as if decades of dust, debris and blood had soaked into the fabric. The ends were frayed and torn, more than a single hole was present. All Might could tell however that it was more than a simple clothing choice, one which nearly nobody would make. Nearly every hero had a vast number of outfits, each one perhaps only mildly different to the point where it was almost difficult to notice that they weren't identical. Each one however would be fresh, clean and if there was one which became damaged then it would be replaced.

That cape would never be taken away from him.

Each one of those tears, each smudge of dirt, they were reminders. All Might still wasn't sure the entirety of the student's background, nobody really did but it was clear that cape had been through a lot, none of it pretty.

This simply was another question in the puzzle that was Shirou Emiya.

As the rest of the students walked out, each in their own individual and specialized costumes, All Might waited patiently for the last to arrive. His own pupil in Midoriya was last in his modified green jumpsuit and All Might wondered how the student would step up to the plate today, especially with the pressure this next test would bring. Originally he had planned multiple two versus two scenarios with the competitors drawn at random. That however, had now changed.

"Heroes in training!" All Might bellowed, his voice silencing the murmurs between students. "Villain battles are most commonly seen outdoors, but, statistically, the most heinous villains are more likely to appear indoors. Between confinement, house arrest and black market deals in this hero-filled society of ours, the cleverest villains out there, lurk indoors. Practical experiences are the best way to learn the basics. Hence, we will be conducting team battles."

"Will we be selecting our own teammates?" asked Iida, raising his hand as if he were still in grade school.

"Your teammates have already been selected for you," declared All Might. "Using the rankings obtained in yesterday's exercises, we have come up with appropriate teams."

"Team A will consist of Asui, Ashido, Shoji and Todoroki."

"Team B will consist of Aoyama, Uraraka, Ojiro and Bakugo."

"Team C will consist of Sero, Koda, Kirishima and Iida."

"Team D will consist of Kaminari, Sato, Yaoyorozu and Tokoyami."

"Team E will consist of Emiya, Jiro, Hagakure, Mineta and Midoriya."

...

To say that All Might's introduction of the teams was bland was putting it nicely. It was clear to Shirou that the professional hero was still getting used to his role as a teacher. What was clear however was the placement of the teams, or more specifically his team.

He had been placed with the four students who had scored the lowest in the practical while the other students had been spaced out evenly. Considering this were team battles, it was a deliberate handicap.

"Take a moment to know your teammates, learn what they are capable of before the practical begins!" All Might instructed.

It took only a handful of seconds for the groups to split up, the four students who Shirou would be working with huddled together as he approached them. He didn't blame them, none of them had interacted with him and he was well known as the former villain. While all the other groups had already begun speaking with one another, those who would be working with would had yet to say a word. Seemed it would be up to him to start it off.

"Alright, so..."

"I've been waiting so long to actually meet you!" squealed Hagakure, the invisible girl moving her hands frantically up and down. "I watched the video of you so many times then when I saw you in our class I wanted to go up and meet you face to face, but I froze and then I just couldn't because it would have been awkward and I feel as if I'm making a fool of myself."

Shirou found himself momentarily at a loss for words, blinking several times as he tried to clarify his thoughts. It also didn't help that the girl who had just confessed that she was a fan of his had a hero costume that visibly consisted of a pair of gloves and boots. Somehow, he didn't believe that the rest of her attire was made of an invisible material.

"It's okay," said Shirou sheepishly, not quite sure how he should. "So, what is everybody capable of?"

"I'm invisible, so I'm really good at sneaking around and catching people off guard," announced Hagakure, more than eager to answer Shirou's question.

"Good to know," said Shirou, giving her a somewhat awkward thumbs up for her enthusiasm.

"My quirk is a double edged sword," said Midoriya, his fist clenching as he looked at the ground. "I have incredible strength but my body is unable to handle the recoil. I can't control my output so I end up injuring myself to the point where I can't fight anymore."

Shirou nodded his head in understanding. It sounded as if Midoriya's quirk was one that was impossible to train in a safe manner. The only real way to get better with it was through trial and error until he could gain some kind of control. Unfortunately that could mean a lot of broken bones and torn muscles before trying to remember how to work through a single punch only for it to backfire again.

Mineta pulled one of the purple balls off his head and held it in his hand. "These balls are incredibly sticky," said Mineta, Shirou trying to block out how wrong that sentence sounded. "A new one will grow in its place, but if I tear off too many too quickly it will start to bleed. My costume and I are the only things that it won't stick to."

"My jacks can be used as whips but if I am able to plug them into a target I can channel my heartbeat through them to create a shockwave," declared Jiro, her arms crossed over her chest. "What about you, we all saw you fight but what is your actual quirk?"

Shirou allowed a claymore to appear in his hand before he drove it into the ground, the noise silencing all of the other groups. "My abilities allow me to craft weapons, though nothing modern. The weapons also have to be one's that I have seen in the past, I can't create an original sword. They do not last forever however and will eventually vanish on their own or when I will it," said Shirou, the claymore evaporating into blue glimmers of light. It was a very basic version that the people around him would understand and take at face value. They likely would never be able to comprehend the true abilities he possessed even if he was to tell them, not that he ever would.

"Wait, so how did you be in the top percentile of every one of the physical tests if you can only create weapons?" asked Midoriya. "Weapon creation wouldn't have anything to do with increased physical strength or stamina."

"When everybody has quirks that make them unique, they tend to forget that the human body is able to reach incredible heights through rigorous training," stated Shirou. "The greatest of heroes are able to come through every situation, without having to rely on the things that make them special." His spiel said, Shirou ignored the looks that the other students sent his way and focused on All Might. The professional hero turned teacher was still smiling at him but it was almost strained, the man clearly deep in thought.

"Well...students, now that you have a general grasp of what your teammates are capable of, it's time for you to learn what the task is," announced All Might, garnering all attention back on him as he held up a pair of handcuffs. "It will be team versus team where the objective is for each group to capture members of the opposing team. Every one of you will have a single pair of these handcuffs to use, once the handcuffs are on that student is eliminated for the rest of the exercise. That's not all, each team will also nominate a single student to be their VIP that they will inform me of. If the enemy team captures the VIP, then that entire team is eliminated and the other team will be announced victorious."

"Now, the Team that will be defending first will be Team E, who will start the exercise inside and play the role of the villains, their VIP being their heinous mastermind."

"The team of heroes who will be storming the stronghold will be Team D, who will approach ten minutes after Team E has entered the facility."

"Now, let's begin!"

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

**...**

To say that Yaoyorozu was anticipating the upcoming exercise was putting it lightly, the young woman barely able to prevent herself from bouncing on the balls of her feet. She wanted an opportunity to engage with Shirou and prove her worth and she had it right here, right now. She had just heard what Shirou had said before he and his team had entered the facility, he could only make medieval weapons.

She could make anything that she knew the inner workings of.

How could a sword compete with a firearm?

Not that she would be using real bullets! She didn't want to kill Shirou, far from it. She needed to teach him, and subsequently, his team a lesson.

Speaking of teams, while hers had the number disadvantage it was actually well rounded and would do well storming the building. Sato was their powerhouse, though due to his quirk his strength would only last so long. Hence they had planned to use him in sparse moments, tagging him out with Kaminari whose electric ability would keep any potential counter attackers at bay.

Kaminari had also been given the title of their VIP, the belief being that the members of the opposing team would be more than a little hesitant to get close to the member of their squad that could constantly produce an electric field around them, a great defensive measure. While all this was happening, Tokoyami would be running as decoy, hopefully creating the idea that he was the VIP that would cause their whole team to be eliminated. Due to the strengths of his own quirk, Dark Shadow, he would be the hardest physically to handcuff so it would make sense that he would be targeted by either strength or numbers, depending on who encountered who.

"BEGIN!"

All Might's voice boomed around them, signaling the start of the competition and causing the members of Team D to begin their assignment. They proceeded slowly, knowing full well that Team E had had a full ten minutes to scout out the building and prepare accordingly. Also, it didn't take them long to notice the cameras located in the corners of the corridor, informing them that their entire performance would be monitored by All Might and assumably their peers. Yaoyorozu couldn't help but smile, hoping quietly that the whole thing was being recorded so that she could watch these next few minutes over and over again.

The path ahead branched off, the trio of Kaminari, Sato and Yaoyorozu took the left path, Tokoyami taking the right. The three students approached the stairs slightly hesitant, expecting an ambush to be awaiting them. Sato stepped forward first and found that it was an ambush of sorts. At the end of the room stood Midoriya and Mineta, the two of them bracing themselves for the conflict to come. The room they were in had purple balls seemingly littered across the ground, no pattern apparent. It was heavier on their side but that was nothing unexpected. The real question though, was what did they do?

None of their team had truly paid much attention to Mineta during the quirk assessment test the previous day. His small frame meant that his physical abilities weren't that great but he had managed to get into the Hero Course ahead of hundreds of other applicants. That meant that his quirk was something that couldn't be underestimated. While yesterday would have been an excellent day to watch and learn everybodies capabilities, most of the attention had been focused on the person who had already stood toe to toe with heroes. Without anything outstanding, nobody had truly paid attention to Mineat and what the balls that he produced from his head were capable of.

They needed to be avoided though, that was clear.

Sato moved forward, careful to watch his step as he proceeded towards the two smaller students. Kaminari followed behind, pulling the handcuffs out of his pocket and getting into position. While Mineta's orbs were uncertainties at this moment in time, Midoriya's quirk was very much known with the teenager having had to see Recovery Girl after yesterday's exercise. Incredible strength, terrible feedback.

Yaoyorozu watched patiently from the entranceway, wondering just how Midoriya would act in the situation before him. It seemed as if the boy was so far incapable of controlling his immensely powerful quirk, one which could likely turn the tide of any battle in an instant but it had to come with some horrible outcomes. Knowing that in order to throw a full blown punch, one which would provide victory in almost any given situation at the almost guaranteed result of injuring himself to such a degree that he could no longer compete. Momo had to give credit where credit was due, the fact that he wished to become a hero while his own body was incapable of dealing with the self sustaining damage was incredible and took incredible determination.

The creaking of floorboards next to her was all the warning Yaoyorozu received before she felt her body begin to fall, having been pushed to the side by seemingly nothing. The answer to her current predicament was quick to come to her, there having been one other member of Team E hiding in the room. Hagakure was invisible, that was her quirk and nobody had considered the possibility that she would go completely nude and hide near the entrance to the room. They had merely thought that the purple balls scattered around were the only traps in waiting.

Knowing how her dilemma came about however didn't prevent Momo from falling. Twisting her head, she saw that she was heading towards a slathering of the purple balls. Reacting on quick thinking, a wooden rod formed out of her palm, landing in a gap between the spheres. It wasn't pretty, but it kept her out of trouble for the moment. She didn't want to know just what those balls did just yet.

"Look out!"

The call from her teammates alerted her to oncoming danger, looking up to see three balls soaring through the air at her. Her predicament was a simple one, avoid the spheres at all costs while remembering that there was an invisible opponent somewhere nearby that could interfere with her efforts at any given moment.

Simple.

She began her work, preparing herself to avoid all oncoming assaults, both visible and not. It would be difficult and all of her focus would be required to successfully return to the fight at hand.

"Tokoyami has been eliminated from the test," boomed All Might's voice over the speaker system.

And there went her concentration. Yaoyorozu avoided the first ball but both the second and third connected with both her shoulder and torso, her elaborate movements flailing as she fell towards the floor, still unsure what the balls currently attached to her body did. When she did land awkwardly atop a number of them, she suddenly discovered her predicament as she found herself unable to move.

Try as she might, and she did try quite vigorously, she could do nothing bit flail with little success of getting anywhere more than where she remained. It seemed as if she had discovered just what the balls that grew on top of Mineta's head did, as did her teammates who now found themselves glued together.

While they could fight on for a handful of seconds longer, Kaminari couldn't activate his quirk without taking out Sato and the strong man would be unable to utilize his strength to his fullest without risk of injuring Kaminari. She meanwhile could do nothing from her position. Sure she could utilize her quirk to craft items for her teammates to use but Momo could tell from her place on the ground that the result was clear.

She was incapacitated, her partners were being approached from three sides with their opponents all wielding their handcuffs and preparing to finish the battle.

They had lost.

She had lost.

She had lost without even having seen Shirou. She had been taken out by the three students who occupied the lowest places in her class. It was humiliating, beyond humiliating! Unfortunately that left her with one very terrible thought on her mind.

Where did that leave her?

...

The general studies class couldn't help but find themselves in a situation they hadn't even remotely considered at the start of the day. Their teacher had decided that it would be good for them to watch and analyse the aspiring heroes. It was very possible that some of them would become well known journalists or even be a part of a hero agency in an administrative role. Those were only a couple of the examples that the teacher had come up with but the students were in agreement that it would be a good lesson.

"Do you think that Sato's quirk would be perfect as an advertisement for a children's cereal brand?"

"What kind of exercise do you think Jiro does to keep in shape?"

"Do you think it was morally wrong for Hagakure to go completely nude, I mean, I know we can't see her but still..."

These were a few of the conversations currently surrounding Rin, the world traveller barely paying attention to the rabble of the masses. Her eyes were solely locked on a single student, but to call him on the same level of those around him would be an insult.

What she was watching though was his actions, small mannerisms that only she would notice. She had seen them all before and she was on the lookout for the more worrying ones. With that being said, Shirou did look oddly relaxed. Considering the task that he had just accomplished, it seemed as if he was having a touch of entertainment predicting and countering the plans that the other team had made.

If Shirou really was enjoying this, even just that tiny amount, Rin could call the exercise a success, regardless of the inevitable result.

...

"That was awesome!" shouted Mineta, high fiving Midoriya as the two of them met up with the rest of their team. He then followed up by trying to give Shirou a clap of the hands only for the weapon crafter to cross his arms. Seemingly getting the hint, Mineta retracted his arm and went very still.

"How'd you defeat Tokoyami Shirou?" asked Hagakure.

"I didn't, Jiro did," said Shirou.

"Really?" said Midoriya in astonishment. "How'd you do it?"

Jiro, a touch embarrassed by all of the attention that had originally been directed at Shirou being thrust upon her, found herself playing with her jacks, twirling one around her finger. "Well, since his quirk centred around the whole dark being kind of thing, I made the room lighter to see if that would work against it."

"Made the room lighter?" repeated Mineta.

"She collapsed one of the walls," clarified Shirou.

"Wait, didn't you think about that doing that would risk the roof caving in?" asked Midoriya. The silence that followed along with Jiro sheepishly looking to the side answered his question more than words would have. "Then how did..."

Before anything else could be said, All Might's voice resounded over the speaker system once more. "Due to the damages that have been sustained to the current facility, another location will be used for the next battle where Team C will be the team invading the villain headquarters. Those headquarters will be occupied by...Team E!"

"Team E...us?" exclaimed Mineta. "That's not fair, we're meant to fight again so soon!"

"Why would they make us fight again?" questioned Hagakure.

"Think about the team layouts," said Midoriya, his mouth covered by his hand as his mind went into overdrive. "Every other team have evenly spaced out teams, making them well rounded while ours consists of the highest and the four lowest ranking students. This might well be a secondary test to show that individual skill will does not necessarily mean that there is an advantage over the number of opposition."

"No, I think it's much more simple than that," stated Shirou.

"What do you mean?" asked Mineta.

"It's to punish us."

"Punish us!" repeated Mineta in shock.

"Aizawa threatened to expel the lowest student yesterday," said Shirou. "The standard rules of teaching don't have to be applied in this class. The four of you were the lowest of the pack yesterday in a school which is meant to produce stellar hero after stellar hero. Any hero that comes out of this academy and fails is a blemish on the school itself."

"So what, they want to make us give up?" asked Hagakure.

"That may have been the original idea," murmured Midoriya. "They may have been counting on us all to be wiped out, trounced by students that scored higher than us to either motivate us to get better or get out. One in three hundred applicants get through to the hero course every year so they want to make sure that those who got in are determined to see it out to the end."

"How do you think the other students feel now?"

"What?" asked Jiro, curious about what Shirou had said.

"It may be as you say," said Shirou. "Were we to be badly beaten, our place in the school may have been in jeopardy. Now though that we came out of that fight and the other team failed to capture a single one of us, how do you think that makes them feel? They came in with confidence only to get beaten by the four of you, the four of you who placed at the bottom of the ladder. So I ask again, how do you think they feel?"

Silence reigned after his words, the pleasure they had felt from their victory hollow after Shirou's speech. With them having achieved perfect victory, it also meant that the other team had suffered a total defeat. Students whom they were to share the rest of their schooling with, any potential bond of friendship that may have been formed possibly shattered before it had even begun.

Thankfully their shared sense of uncomfortability was shattered with All Might announcing over the speaker system that the next location had been selected and that they had ten minutes to prepare. Shirou watched as his team marched forward, their spirits dampened from what he had said. Pausing mid step, Shirou allowed a sigh to escape his lips before he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Stop."

Shirou's command resulted in a very quick response by the four other students. They turned around to see Shirou with his arms crossed. "What, you're going to give us a pep talk now?" said Jiro, her voice laced with sarcasm. "Try and boost our morale perhaps."

"Hardly," said Shirou. "I'm going to tell the lot of you that you should quit if something like this gets you down."

"What!" Hagakure screamed out, fists clenched and shaking up and down.

"In your own time, you can worry about whatever it is that is dragging you down and kill those thoughts with movies, ice cream, long walks or anything that helps get your mind off things. However you deal with it, is how you will deal with it after we come out of this victorious."

"Victorious? You reckon we will win again?" asked Mineta. "I reckon we should just call it quits during this one and prevent ourselves from having to fight again."

"Then get out and be known as the guy who just walked out on the second day of school, all because he was scared of getting hurt in a school for people who want to put their lives on the line everyday." Mineta stiffened at Shirou's words as he continued. "We will get hurt, time and time again. Physically and mentally. Then we will get up time and time again. We will recover, get hurt and be stronger to tackle the next challenge each and every time a new problem comes our way. Right now is another task that we will overcome, even if we then have to fight the rest of the class one after the other. Now, I'm going to go prepare myself for the fact I believe Iida is going to hunt me down like a rabid dog on some weird revenge thing. Sero will try to use the tape his quirk allows him to create to pull people off balance, count on that. Mineta, since you're the distance fighter he will try to target you to reduce our overall range. Count on that. Hagakure will stand in front and get drawn in in your place. The momentary shock should give you enough time to strike with the two of you double teaming to take him down. Midoriya, you'll need to combat Koda. His quirk allows him to communicate with animals, so he won't be able to do much in the current situation unless perhaps for some spiders or insects, no need to use your quirk, just put him down with natural strength. He will likely be the one holding onto the handcuffs and be ready to eliminate whoever Sero or Kirishima puts down. On the note of Kirishima, Jiro, you're going to keep him at bay. The shockwaves you produce may be the only way to slow him down, perhaps even stop him completely but you'll have to get through the armour. Aim for the joints, behind the kneecaps, armpits, elbows, find the chinks in his armour. Kirishima or Iida will be their leader, whether they chose to go with speed or strength. They will be the hardest to take down though. Reduce their numbers and collaborate on Kirishima while I teach Iida a lesson. If you have complaints on the plan you are more than welcome to voice them afterwards. Now, let's go."

Shirou marched forward, his teammates parting for him as they tried to comprehend the whole thing before awkwardly jogging to catch up with him, not wanting to walk behind. "So much for the whole no pep talk thing," Jiro whispered to Hagakure who couldn't help but giggle.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

**...**

Iida couldn't help as he panted, hands and knees pressed to the ground as exhaustion and fatigue filled his body, sweat pouring from his brow from a mix of physical and mental exhaustion. The bout hadn't been going long, far from it but as the sounds of his comrades being eliminated one after the other echoed through the speakers he had found himself pushing himself harder. Again and again, trying new tactics in an area which didn't allow him to fully utilize his quirk.

Yet it had dawned on him soon enough. It didn't matter how fast he went, what side he struck from or what surprise he tried to mix into his assault, he was powerless against the monster in front of him. This wasn't the top of the class he was facing. This was someone who had seen heroes up close and personal and knew how to compete with professionals.

And here he was, a student who hadn't even been in this academy for a week thinking he could take on this juggernaut before him.

What a fool he was.

"So, tell me, what did you learn?" asked Shirou as he stood over Iida, the teenager having successfully brought Iida to this state without breaking a sweat.

"You're...you're too strong," said Iida ashamed.

"You already knew that," declared Shirou. "If I wasn't at that level then there would have been no way I could compete against your brother and the other heroes. Try again."

"Then I'm too..."

"If you're about to say weak then I want you to walk out that door and leave this academy with your tail tucked between your legs," said Shirou as he crossed his arms, creating an imposing figure. "You're trying to become a hero. The moment you doubt yourself is when the battle is lost and those people you were trying to protect die."

"Then what do you want me to do?" asked Iida, raising his gaze up from the ground.

"There is always going to be someone better than you, whether that is because they are faster, stronger, it doesn't matter. What matters is that you use everything you have at your disposal to close the gap. Take this experience and learn from it. Treat every fight as if your life depended on it and figure out just what you are capable of. Every time you get knocked down, count it as experience so it becomes harder for them to knock you down again."

Iida couldn't help but find himself swallowing a lump that had formed in his throat. Shirou wasn't simply saying this because it was something that he had seen in a self help book. He had been knocked down, repeatedly by the sounds of it and found ways to get back up, no matter how bruised, bloodied and battered he was.

He knew how difficult the journey was, he had already crawled on that path through whatever means necessary to come out the other side. It painted a terrifying picture and Iida could find himself understanding the person in front of him that little bit more, however scary that idea was. Shirou didn't become as strong as he had because he wanted to, his strength had come from the fact it was necessary.

Iida didn't resist as the handcuffs were secured around his wrists, eliminating him, and his team from the competition. Though it didn't truly matter, he had been the last one standing from his team after all.

As he stood up and started heading towards the exit of the room, he took one final look back at Shirou and wished that during their battle he had managed to accomplish a single thing. Just one single thing to show that he had been taken seriously.

Shirou had bested him without using his quirk. Not a single weapon had been crafted to battle him.

Next time though, next time they fought Iida knew that he would lose to Shirou again. If he could make him use his quirk however, no matter how badly he was beaten it would be an incredible victory.

...

Shirou looked at Mineta and Hagakure, the two of them having been captured during the last contest. Looking at the bright red handprint on Mineta's face said more than any explanation would. It seemed as if the small student had tried to get a bit frisky at some point and had jeopardized the whole operation in order to cop a feel.

"Have you said you're sorry?" Shirou asked.

"It doesn't matter if he said it or not!" started Hagakure. "He thought that while I was in front of him he could..."

"I know it won't change the way you feel," said Shirou, offering the invisible girl a small smile. "It will tell me however if he has even the slightest bit of remorse for his actions."

"Oh, in that case, no he hasn't said sorry," said Hagakure.

"Alright then, there's only one thing that we need to do in order to get him to repent for his sins," said Shirou.

"What's that?" asked Mineta, fear creeping into his body.

Shirou crafted an ancient knife, one which had originated hundreds of years earlier and was crude in design. It did make a solid point visually however and was perfect for what he was about to say next.

"Castration."

Mineta felt his knees go weak under him and he struggled to remain standing. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he begged, fearing for his manhood.

"Don't say it to me," said Shirou as he pointed the knife from Mineat to Hagakure.

"I'm sorry Hagakure! Please forgive me, I'm sorry for everything!" Mineta shouted in desperation.

"This is too much," mumbled Jiro as she found herself rubbing at her temples.

"Emiya, you're not really going to...you know..." said Midoriya, unable to find the actual words.

No answer was given however as All Might's voice came over the speaker system. "Team B, please get ready for your operation, you will be storming the headquarters of...Team E!"

"Oh what a surprise, it's us again," said Jiro with sarcasm almost visible in her words.

"Hey All Might, can we get the keys to the cuffs!" shouted Hagakure, waving her hands up to the camera, not sure if the number one hero could hear her.

Apparently not.

"While I can't hear you young Miss, I have some unfortunate news for you. You and the young sir by your side were eliminated from the competition, the whole competition," said All Might. "The rest of your team is still in the contest."

"Wait, so we're not only fatigued from our previous fights, but our number advantage is gone," said Jiro, biting at the inside of her lip.

"If you want to take a breather, find some cover and I can do the heavy lifting this time around," said Shiro.

"Are you really going to fight all of them?" asked Hagakure, still bummed out that she couldn't compete in the following event.

"No, I'm just going to fight three of them," said Shiro as his gaze shifted to Midoriya. "I think there's someone in Team B that Midoriya needs to face one on one."

Considering the four people that they were going up against, it didn't take long for Midoriya to figure out just who Shiro was hinting at. "Kaa-chan," he said softly, his palm clenching into a fist.

"We all saw him charge at you after you launched the ball yesterday," stated Shiro. "I won't ask what kind of bad blood there is between the two of you but this is your chance to rectify some issues."

"I don't know," said Midoriya with more than a hint of uncertainty.

"This is your chance to face your demons head on," stated Shirou. "If you can't even face your own fear, how are those you protecting going to know you're a real hero."

"So, Midoriya, the real question is this...Can you do this?"

Second ticked by as Midoriya did his best to gather the courage necessary to answer. Weeks ago were he given such an option he would never have chosen this but now...now things were different.

"Yes."

"Good, let's go," said Shirou with a cunning smile, wondering whether any of the other three students he was going to target would get him to use anything within his arsenal.

Jiro meanwhile couldn't help but see the smile that Shirou was wearing, an almost playful nature to it. She along with most of the world had seen just what Shirou and his partner were capable of, the way the two of them had been able to stand up to a multitude of heroes like it was nothing. Hagakure may have reached fangirl levels of obsession but she had been much more on the analytical side of things.

Even during that last bout after she and Mirodiya had succeeded in capturing Kirishima, she had watched Shirou toy with Iida all for the idea of teaching him a lesson. Having seen the footage, she was more than aware that Shirou was capable of so much more but he simply chose not to push himself. At any time he could have taken Iida out and likely in the next match he would take his time, perhaps even give some random hints of advice as he danced around their coordinated attacks.

Then, once they were tired and out of ideas, he would capture them and end the fight.

It was sadly all too predictable.

It would give her time to rest though for the final fight and after having had to restrain Koda, Sero and Kirishima, she was more than content to take a break.

...

The general studies class watched as the third bout started only for Bakugo to charge straight forward, leaving his teammates still standing at the entrance. He moved as if a man possessed, a single terrifying thought on his mind. Many of those who had never seen the explosive quirk user felt intimidated, all of them hoping to never be in the path of the teenager who looked more like a villain than a hero in this single moment.

Considering that there was someone who was once called a villain was standing right beside them, that was saying something.

Rin meanwhile couldn't help but feel mildly impressed. Mildly.

What she had been more impressed with thus far was how Shirou was interacting with those around him. She was glad that he wasn't actually using his proper strength against children pretending to be superpowered. She didn't care what kind of ability they possess which they believed gave them the right to be called the pitiful excuse of a hero in this world, they couldn't be any kind of idol if their mindset was that of a toddler. The best lesson that they needed to have beaten into their skulls was that it didn't matter that they had gotten into the top class level of the academy, they were still unprepared for the world.

Which made it all the more surprising as she watched the teenager that had yet to display a single bit of power during all of the fights thus far take the battle to the kid that could create explosions. Rin could hear the panicked whispers of those standing nearby about the thought how someone whose profile stated how the green haired kid had incredible strength but a terrifying self-destructive drawback.

Kid had courage, Rin could give him that. Unfortunately, it looked like courage wouldn't be enough in this battle. She had been in enough situations where she and Shirou had faced unspeakable odds during the Holy Grail war, not to mention everything that subsequently came afterwards. They had taken on the challenges knowing full well that they were potentially unprepared. Courage, was only good when one had the skills to back up their bravado.

Meanwhile, on one of the other screens, a couple of the students watched as Shirou danced between three sets of attacks almost effortlessly ad if he knew everything that would be coming his way. Rin allowed a smile to grace her lips for only a moment, making sure nobody else saw her reaction.

Just a small smile, one that was gone as soon as it arrived.

Shirou had had years of watching the worst of mankind eat away at his soul for decades. Rin knew that he had struggled and did his best to hide the effects that countless inhumane events had had on his psyche. He always did his best to wear that irresistible smile of his but every now and again Rin had seen it waver ever so slightly, telling her that perhaps they were fake smiles being sent her way. Shirou never wished to burden her with anything that would stress her out or make her worry, something which infuriated Rin to no regard. Yet she cared for him, and this was his way of showing that he cared for her.

A gasp from nearby caught Rin's attention, turning her head slightly to view the other screen to see Shirou's teammate on the ground, rubble and debris surrounding his barely moving body. It was clear that her earlier deduction had been on the mark, though the blood trickling both from the explosive kid's nose and a cut that had formed across his cheek. Saying that he looked annoyed was putting it lightly, infuriating also seemed as if it was an understatement.

Well, it just looked as if there was another person for Shirou to put into place.

...

Shirou secured the cuffs around Ojiro, the third person whom he had eliminated this bout. True to his style, during the entire time he had been combatting the trio, he had been trying to push them to better themselves. They actually had had some good chemistry, likely chatting amongst one another beforehand and creating some sort of plans.

Sadly it had all been a bit too predictable. Aoyama's laser instantly made him their long distance fighter while Ojiro had tried to combat him in close combat with Uraraka playing support where she could. They were still a bit green but there was nothing wrong with that. They would learn in the years to come, provided they made it that far.

The wall nearby exploded towards them, Ojiro flinching and closing his eyes as he braced himself for some manner of debris hitting his body. Nothing hit him however, his body being protected by the unmoving frame of Shirou who had stood in the path to protect him. Whatever rubble and grit collided with his frame did little to move him from his spot and only once the dust had cleared did he step to the side to see who was still around.

"Go," instructed Shirou, Ojiro taking no time to heed his call.

"There you are," snarled Bakugo as he raised a fist, his arm trembling in anticipation for what was to come. His menacing presence was only made more so by the amount of blood that was smeared across his face,red liquid still trickling from his wounds.

"I see," said Shirou as he leant to the side, the explosive palm that Bakugo possessed bypassing his head by a matter of inches. That was only the start as the momentum allowed Bakugo to twist, his leg swinging up in an attempt to strike again at Shirou's face. It failed to strike however as Shirou tilted backwards, allowing the leg to sail above his nose by the barest of margins.

Bakugo skidded off to the side, preparing himself for some measure of counter attack that never came. Instead he focused on the fact that Shirou had yet to move from the position he had been standing in when he had defended Ojiro from the destruction he had caused.

The explosive kid wasn't a fool. He knew that all of the other people in his class were merely pebbles that he needed to move past in order to reach the top. Standing in front of him though wasn't a pebble, it was a mountain. Shirou wasn't like the other students, that much was obvious. Even mountains however were scaled by the strongest and bravest of explorers, and Bakugo knew what the first step would be to ensure that he would be recognized as the strongest. That was to do what no one else had been able to do thus far.

Make Shirou use his quirk.

None of the other students had managed to do so, but Bakugo was determined to make the seemingly impossible a reality. "You better take me serious," he said as he slapped his wrists together, his palms pointing towards where Shirou was standing. "I'll crush you if you don't come at me with everything you've got."

"Everything I've got," repeated Shirou as Bakugo charged at him, the sweat building on his palms. Those watching on the cameras did so in horror as Shirou didn't budge from his spot as the palms connected with his torso, engulfing his body in an explosion which shook the foundation of the building. Smoke enveloped the human that Bakugo had struck with everything he could have mustered, causing the first year student to shake.

Many might have assumed he was terrified with himself because he had struck someone clean with his quirk, a powerful quirk that had the potential to kill an individual if not used carefully. During his childhood, while he had constantly been praised, he had also been given fair warning about the danger such a strong quirk could have.

That however, was not why Bakugo was shaking.

The smoke parted to show Shirou still standing there, seemingly unfazed by the attack that had struck him square. An attack that could have crumbled a wall hadn't even damaged the hero costume that Shirou was wearing. Was it the material itself that was able to withstand the attack or was it Shirou himself?

Knowing that potential defeat was coming soon, Bakugo's right arm swung upwards, his fist connecting with Shriou's chin in such a way that it sent the head recoiling backwards. A menacing smile crossed Bakugo's features for only the barest of moments before Shirou spoke.

"A haymaker is meant to end a fight," he said as his face shot down and his eyes connected with Bakugo's. It took only a split second then for Bakugo's insides to nearly collapse on themselves as Shirou's fist embedded itself in his stomach with enough force to send him crashing against the opposite wall.

Bakugo couldn't help the bile and blood that he coughed up as he found himself on his hands and knees, doing his best to take deep breaths. Hazy eyes went wide as he looked at Shirou and the weapon he held in his hands.

A spear. Crimson red in colour with an intricate pattern etched into the core.

Yet it wasn't these details that Bakugo noticed.

He could feel the power, he didn't know how it was possible but it felt as if the weapon itself was radiating an aura of pure strength.

Bakugo would later go on to stay that it was the weapon that had caught him off guard to which lead to his defeat. The spear never struck him, but being able to see his reflection in the spear face when it was only an inch away from his head with the tip embedded into the wall was an experience he never wished upon anyone else.

Bakugo didn't resist as Shirou placed the handcuffs on him (the pair that he had taken from Ojiro), the explosive teenager more than content to allow this competition to come to an end and allow some himself to have some manner of medical treatment administered. It was very possible that a few of his ribs were broken. It also didn't help that Shirou hadn't needed to summon the weapon to defend himself and the pure amount of strength in his fist alone was terrifying. Shirou had summoned the spear to make one point obviously clear.

That this was merely a taste of what he was truly capable of.

...

All Might couldn't help but allow a sigh of relief to sound out as the battle came to a close. Small medic robots were already on their way to pick up Midoriya, the kid having put up more of a fight against Bakugo then anybody could have predicted. He needed to learn how to utilize One for All better though or else he wasn't going to be able to see the rest of the semester through.

He was also glad that Shirou had opted to make a statement with his fist rather than the weapons he could have created. Heaven forbid he terrify all those who were watching by splashing Bakugo's blood all across the wall. Hopefully the explosive child had learned something from this and would be able to use it in the future.

Although he still wasn't sure how to feel about Shirou willingly taking Bakugo's attack head on. Was he simply that confident in his ability, or did he know he would be okay because he had been through worse in the past?

Now was not the time for idle thoughts however as there was one last bout to occur. Now it would be up to Team A to try and accomplish what no other team could.

Jiro and Shirou.

Asui, Ashido, Shoji and the son of Endeavour, Todoroki.

On paper it was two to four. Jiro and Shirou would be entering their fourth consecutive match with minimal breaks in order to restore their stamina. Team A had been able to watch what their opponents were capable of.

None of this would likely give Team A any advantage whatsoever.

...

**Hope you enjoyed. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

**...**

Aizawa watched on from his isolated room, thankful for the quietness that surrounded him as he made his own notes about the one sided battles that had come and gone. There had been some mildly entertaining moments and he would need to give some 'special' lessons to some of those who had done extremely poorly but they were here to learn after all.

It just so happened that there seemed to be someone else in the class who was more than willing to try and teach the brats a lesson.

Other members of the faculty who watched the footage might see things differently however he could see the small indications here and there with the movements. It was clear that Shirou was toying with his opponents but had he gone at the same level of strength he had done against the professional heroes then there wouldn't have even been a contest. The fact that he had actually gone along with it showed that either he didn't want to waste their full power because he saw them as no kind of threat, or if he wished to show them something. Perhaps it was a mix of both, maybe something completely different.

The fact at the end of the day was that Shirou had toyed with them in such a way it would likely inspire them to be better than the person they were today.

That being said, Aizawa knew that there was another lesson that the brat would teach before the day was over. The kid had an annoying sense of foresight considering that at the start of the lessons he had been the one to tell All Might who their team leader was, despite the protests that had been made by his peers.

It had been a trick that he himself wouldn't have considered which would make it all the more interesting to see how he would play this out.

...

Todoroki stared at the entrance to where he and his teammates would be proceeding through shortly in order to begin the task set before them. A task which had been made easier by the groups that had come before them, but nonetheless one which seemed almost an impossible assignment. Still though, they were expected to show just what made them students of the academy and he intended to do just that.

"Stand behind me," he instructed as his quirk flared into life. They had nominated him as team captain and they trusted him to instruct them to the best of his ability. Considering how widespread his quirk was, it was in their best interest to listen to exactly what he said.

Those behind him could only watch in awe as the building that their targets were holed up in became encased in ice, both externally and internally. "Wow," said Ashido, unable to stop the word from coming out of her mouth.

"Will you be okay?" Shoji asked of the other member of the team, the one with the amphibious quirk.

"It will be a strain," said Tsuyu. "Even standing out here I can feel myself wanting to find somewhere warm."

"There's no shame in staying," declared Todoroki. "Due to my quirk, our capabilities as teammates is at a disadvantage. While I can use the other half of my quirk to keep your temperature stable it will reduce my own abilities during the oncoming struggle."

"I'm sorry, I wish I could be of more help," stated Tsuyu, fully knowing that the drawback to her quirk in these conditions would be more of a hinderance than anything else.

"Don't worry, we'll win this for you," stated Ashido giving her female classmate a thumbs up for good measure.

"Let's move, the longer we wait the longer they have to counter," said Shoji knowing his role in the upcoming scuffle.

"Right," agreed Todoroki as he lead on at a brisk pace. His costume came with shoes that weren't affected by the change in terrain, being able to walk over the ice as if it were nonexistent. Unfortunately those who were backing him up had no such equipment and had to tread carefully.

He had discussed this with them beforehand and how it would hinder them as a unit. At the start of the competition he had planned on doing the same thing, regardless of how it affected those around him. When he had watched the first team fall without a single member of Team E falling, he knew that he needed to count on those who he had been assigned with.

He wasn't his father after all.

"Where do you think they'll be?" asked Ashido, trying to break the silence that had encompassed the group. She hadn't needed to speak to break the silence however as the roof creaked before breaking, all three members of Team A diving out of the way in order to avoid a majority of the debris, though they were unable to avoid it all. "You guys okay?"

"Yeah," said Shoji, a little battered from some of the floorboards that had unexpectedly crashed on top of him. "To answer your earlier question, I believe they're above us."

...

Tsuyu stood outside of the frozen complex awkwardly. She hadn't technically been eliminated from the competition so she was theoretically still in the bout, even if her contribution to the oncoming fight was minimal if anything at all.

She could tell however that this was a learning point for her. Tsuyu wanted to be a hero, one that was able to help in any kind of situation. Looking at the terrain only a handful of feet in front of her knowing that she could do nothing was a blow to her pride. She had to talk to some of the people in the school to see if it was possible to get some modifications done to her hero attire. While what she had was more than suitable in most conditions, Tsuyu wanted to be a hero that could help in all situations.

There was another learning point here, one that she hadn't thought of on her own and before she knew it, she was about to play a much bigger part of the game ahead, regardless of the conditions.

...

The three members of Team A moved slowly, taking in their surroundings as they progressed further and further into the building. It wasn't a large building by any stretch of the imagination, however the two students they were facing could very well be lying in wait to ambush them from any vantage point accessible.

Unfortunately, their set movement came with another setback, that being that Ashido and Shoji were starting to suffer from the effects brought about by the conditions they were in. Todoroki had been mildly sceptical when they had swiftly accepted the plan he had put forth but they had agreed to do so, regardless of how it would affect their bodies. Had they not mentally suffered the attack from above with the roof caving in, there was little doubt that they would be moving at a quicker pace. The looming threat of the roof coming down on them once more or perhaps even the ground from underneath them giving way made them extra cautious.

Understandably so.

"Ahchoo!"

"Bless you," said Shoji in response.

"Thanks," replied Ashido as she wiped at her nose.

It made sense that it was the last room of the house located on the top floor, with the only entrance being the door and the only alternate escape route being the window that was four stories above ground. What was more unnerving was the fact that Shirou sat on a chair in the centre of the room, his fingers interlaced under his chin as if he were a spy movie villain. Standing behind him and to his right was Jiro, rubbing at her arms to try and create some extra warmth.

The two members of Team E however were not the only ones in the room.

"Tsuyu!" shouted Ashido, noticing the fourth member of their team being held hostage in the corner, a cage made of steel swords keeping her entrapped in the corner of the room. "Let her go!"

"If I was going to let her go, then there would have been no point in capturing her in the first place," said Shirou as he leaned back in his chair, seemingly content with the decision he made. "While your decision to control of the terrain was a surprising one, unfortunately it has lead to your ultimate downfall."

Todoroki didn't rise to the bait but knew that time was of the essence here. Tsuyu's quirk was at a complete disadvantage and a single look at the girl showed that she was beyond suffering. He needed to find a way to finish this quick, though any more ice that he created would inevitably drop her health even quicker.

While he had sworn never to use the other half of his power, for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, he could feel the heat inside him itching to be released.

"What do you want?" asked Shoji, knowing that they needed to speed up whatever process this was if they were to rescue Tsuyu before she suffered anymore than necessary.

"Out of every member of the class, Todoroki here is probably the one that I would struggle to fight," stated Shiro. "I mean look around us, this all happened in the space of a couple seconds. It's not to say that I can't beat him in a straight fight but this isn't a straight fight now is it. The point of a team battle is in the name, the battle you brought forth however wasn't suited to your team."

"Can we hurry this up?" asked Jiro, clearly getting agitated by the length of time this was taking.

"Fine," said Shirou as he stood up, pulling a pair of handcuffs out of his pocket. "I could force these on you and win outright but you wouldn't learn anything from that. After all, when I'm in such close proximity to you my own safety is compromised. So, Jiro here is going to put the handcuffs on you at the same time as Ashido there puts her handcuffs on me. Does that sound like a good compromise?"

"We'll take it!" shouted Ashido, speaking for her team. While Todoroki was technically the leader, the decision in front of her was an easy one. They weren't losing the match, they were drawing if anything which was far better than what any of the other teams had accomplished.

Todoroki meanwhile didn't like the outcome and bit at the inside of his lip. The issue with not liking it however was that he really couldn't see another alternative, at least not one that he would willingly rely on. "Fine, we have a deal."

"Good," said Shirou as the swords around Tsuyu vanished. "Get her out of here Shoji, somewhere warm."

"Of course," he said before springing into action, crossing the distance between where he had been standing and where Tsuyu was in a matter of moments. As he took Tsuyu to safety, Shiro held out his arms while Todoroki did the same.

"No funny business now, you wouldn't want to be known as someone who goes back on their word now do you," said Shiro as Jiro took the handcuffs from him and proceeded to where Todoroki was standing.

"You have my word," said Todoroki as Ashido walked past him, crossing paths with Jiro, the two girls nodding to one another in a sign that they weren't going to try any funny business. It took a few seconds for the girls to get in position, with the handcuffs placed around the boy's wrists.

"On the count of three," instructed Jiro.

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

The locks slid into place at the same time, capturing both Todoroki and Shiro simultaneously.

"Shiro and Todoroki have been eliminated from the test, Team A has been eliminated from the test. The winners are Team E!" All Might's voice boomed through the speaker system.

"Wait, what?" said Ashido, highly confused about the situation unfolding around her before the conclusion hit her head on. Pointing at Shirou, then Jiro, then Shirou again, over and over. "You mean this whole time, you weren't, but you were, when you're clearly, but why!"

"I was the biggest target," said Shirou as he stretched his arms, shattering the link that connected the handcuffs connecting his wrists together. "Why would we make me the team leader when everyone was out to get me?"

"Not like we didn't strongly suggest it," said Jiro, crossing her arms. "Now can we get out of here, it is freaking freezing!"

...

Rin sat in Shirou's living room, or the small enough area that could remotely be described as a living area. She sat at the coffee table, her head cusped in her palm while her elbow sat on the table. In front of her, Shirou worked in the kitchen whipping them up some dinner, already having declined her help for the night.

She had long since learned that while her skills as a mage were immense, her culinary skills weren't to the ridiculous level that Shirou had pushed his ability to. Him declining her entrance to his sanctuary was a simple way of saying that he wanted to make something immaculate tonight, not just decent.

There was also the distinct possibility that he didn't want her to force him to talk about the day's events. Despite the fact that he had managed to maintain a decent amount of restraint while not doing anything out of hand. Even when he had summoned the fabled red spear into his hand to terrorize the explosive student, it wasn't to harm the kid more than a touch psychologically.

There were hundreds of spears in Shirou's arsenal but she knew that that one was his go to. How could it not be? Had it not been for that night so long ago, who knew where either of them would be right now? Her seemingly foolish choice to save him, had she been more cold hearted than she had been, Rin severely doubted that she would have survived the war.

"Are you going out tonight?" she asked curiously.

"No, I don't know the defence system yet and what it will do to anyone trying to get in or out at this time of the evening," answered Shirou, his back still turned to her. "If I do decide to go out, I'll need you to hold down the fort in my absence. I probably won't be able to get back in until sunrise, maybe even later."

"Of course, use me as you see fit," scoffed Rin, knowing that if Shirou decided to not come home one evening it would be her job to 'convince' anybody who came asking questions that everything was fine.

The sound of culinary equipment being placed on the countertop caused Rin to freeze momentarily. "You know I don't mean it like that."

"I know," said Rin as she got up from her seated position and made her way to the kitchen. She stood there for a handful of seconds before Shirou turned to look her in the eye. Rin reached up and held his cheek in her palm, her thumb tracing just above his jawline. "I've been by your side for decades Shirou, if anybody knows, it's me."

"What would I do without you Rin?"

"Perhaps you would have decided to save people by opening up a soup kitchen and feeding the endless masses as opposed to charging into battle time and time again but what do I know," said Rin as she shrugged her shoulders. The crack of a genuine smile on Shirou's lips allowed her own smile to seep forth.

They stood there, gently smiling at one another until Shirou returned to his work, knowing full well that Rin would eventually yell at him if he were to leave something on the stove too long. If he was going to make dinner tonight he was going to make it right.

...

Todoroki sat in the confines of his bedroom, the day still weighing heavily on his mind. By now it was more than likely that most of his family was asleep, all but his father who hadn't returned home for the night. His father, the number two hero.

It was no secret in their family that their father, while respected greatly as the hero that he was, wasn't winning any father of the year awards any time in the foreseeable future. Shoto hated him for the most part, having decided many years earlier that he would never use the part of his quirk that he had inherited from him.

Today though, today was the first time he felt like he should have truly allowed that part of his power to shine forth. He wasn't upset about the loss, not by any stretch of the imagination. Considering how many professionals Shirou had been able to take down one after the other, even if he had said that a one on one battle against him would be difficult, he still sounded confident in his victory.

What upset him though was how his quirk had been used against his team. Those who had stood by his side and nominated him as their leader had been ineffective to work alongside him because of what he had done. One of them had had to be rescued because of how badly they reacted with his quirk.

At least half his quirk.

He raised his left hand up to eye level, staring at the appendage knowing just what it was capable of if he so chose to use it. How it could have been used today to help his teammate in her time of need.

Todoroki went to bed that evening with a number of thoughts clouding his mind knowing full well that if he was ever going to make it in this world of heroes, half his quirk may not be enough to get him through.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night or My Hero Academia**

**...**

Aizawa stared at the group of teenagers in front of them, many sporting glum looks most likely from the previous day's activities. He didn't blame them. The students in his class had made it past some of the most gruelling challenges in order to simply attend the academy. Having told All Might to alter what he had planned for a larger long term purpose was potentially overstepping his bounds but he didn't care about any potential fallout. These kids were his responsibility after all, and he would prepare them for the worst that the world could throw at them.

That also included the media that had been waiting to ambush them out the front of the school. The weight that was on their minds from the previous day and potentially haunted them that night didn't exactly make them the most reciprocal for what the journalists wanted from them. Effectively information about the number one Hero being a teacher.

It did serve as something of a diversion but other than that they weren't prepared for what was out there. All it took was to get on the wrong side of one of the media outlets and then the slander could begin. A single mistake could be taken out of proportion and a career that had taken years to build up could be torn down in mere hours. Children weren't meant to deal with such things.

"Now, I need you all to focus," he said calmly. "Each of you went through something difficult yesterday and that was the point. You are in an elite school, remember that. There will be ups and downs and sometimes it will be difficult to pick yourselves off of the ground. Not every mission you go on will end the way that you want it and if you are mentally unprepared for something of that nature to happen it can leave you in a vulnerable state."

"I watched and analyzed your battles and if you wish to discuss my findings come find me in your spare time. I'm not going to tell you what you did right and what a lot of you did wrong in front of the rest of the class. I'm sure you went over it all when you went home and rested afterwards. You all will have come up with differing thoughts on just what happened but I can tell by the looks on your faces that you all came to roughly the same result."

"Suck it up and move on."

Aizawa's words stung at those in attendance but he truly did mean them. He did not know a single hero out there who hadn't suffered at some stage in their career but when they were in their darkest they had two options before them. To either better themselves, or retire.

Very few retired.

"Now, onto business..."

...

"And then he just shifted the conversation to classroom leadership as if it was nothing," chuckled Shirou as he sat atop the roof, a lunchbox in his hand.

"Well I can see his tactic, dump all of the depressing stuff on them first and foremost before trying to lighten the mood. So how did they work out who their class leader would be?" asked Rin as she laid down on the rooftop, her own lunchbox empty by her side as she stared at the clouds with her hands behind her head.

"Basically everyone wanted the position for themselves to start with before it got put to a vote," sais Shirou in between bites.

"How many voted for you in the end? I take it those four that you helped through the exercise yesterday voted for you?" stated Rin.

"I refused to partake," said Shirou as he put his now empty container to the side. "Chances are that while those four may have voted for me, it was clear that there is animosity between me and roughly half the class at this point."

"True, no point in leading them when they don't want you to," stated Rin as she pushed herself into a seated position. "Though I know that you would have made them fall into line one way or another."

"You think I would have become a dictator?"

"Please, a warlord is more befitting a title for you wouldn't you say?"

"Emiya Shirou the Warlord, I wonder how that would go down in this world," chuckled Shirou conjuring ideas of endless wave after wave of people trying to take him down in the name of justice.

"I can tell you exactly how it would go," said Rin in an almost sultry voice. Sadly though that was where the train of thought screeched to an almighty halt as sirens started to sound, causing Shirou and Rin to snap into action.

'_Security Level 3 Has Been Breached, All Students Please Promptly Evacuate.'_

"I hope our houses haven't been ransacked," stated Shirou.

"Really, the entire academy has been breached and you're worried about our accommodations," said Rin as she watched Shirou move to the edge of the rooftop and look down. "What do you see?"

"We've got nothing to worry about, it's just the press," declared Shirou, becoming visibly more relaxed.

"Really, the press got in through the giant barricade that you're worried might have a camera ready to catch your movements in the middle of the night," said Rin as she lowered her arm, the magical energy she had been charging dissipating.

"Well they weren't exactly subtle about the way they got in," declared Shirou. "It looks as if the gate has basically crumbled into nothing."

"Considering this world, I'm really not surprised by that," said Rin as she flicked some loose strands of hair behind her ear. "With such a destructive power, they knew they could get through the barricade and if they know they're getting paid handsomely for the scoop they'll do whatever it takes to get it."

"I guess so," said Shirou with a sigh. Rin couldn't tell whether or not the man in front of her was disappointed by the fact there was no threat or not. Chances were that he was just restless.

The confrontations the previous day had probably spurred him on a fair bit, with battle after battle. Unfortunately they were not the same kind of fights that he had spent decades going through. If anything he had played the endeavours out like some sort of chess game, strategically putting his pieces where he needed them in order to achieve victory.

While others might have seen the fights he had been in as something extraordinary to witness, Rin knew that he was restless. They had likely only tickled at the battle prowess that he had wanted to exert but knew to hold back quite significantly when dealing with children. The fact that he had dealt with the ice crafting teenager in the way that he had showed one very specific thing. Were he to combat him, he would have to do so seriously and in doing so, he couldn't have guaranteed Todoroki's safety.

He needed action.

Despite the fact that the perimeter would likely be heavily guarded tonight considering the large hole that was once the entrance, Shirou would go out tonight. That touch of confrontation only fueled his need for conflict. Whether he would spend the night capturing villains as if he were a vigilante or whether he would test the might of the heroes who patrolled the streets, she didn't know nor did she care.

Shirou would return to her the following morning and would not say a thing of the injuries he would potentially sustain, or whether the blood that might be on his clothes were his or anothers. Shirou had devoted so much of his life to battle in order to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. He was not the Archer she remembered from so long ago. Whether or not the person he had become was any better or worse, she did not know nor did she care.

All she knew was that when he returned, she would be there waiting to help him if he so needed.

...

The flashing blue and red illuminating the night sky was always a dead give away that trouble was at hand, though from what Ryuko could see it looked as if the police were finalizing the issue. From her viewpoint three stories above, she counted four standard police vehicles and one heavily armoured van. Whatever they were finishing up with, it had been something big.

There was something else that bugged her about it all however and that was the fact that she couldn't spot any professional heroes in the vicinity. It was more than possible that had a professional hero helped in this escapade that they had been called off for another situation but she felt that that wasn't the case.

She was momentarily glad that she wasn't patrolling with her intern. Nejire had the unfortunate tendency to be straightforwardly blunt at the best of times.

It didn't take Ryuko long to make it to where the police were stationed, one of the detectives noticing her arrival. "Evening," he said politely with a tip of his hat.

"What's the situation here?" she asked as she watched a blue coloured man get pushed into the back of the armoured van.

"Drug bust," he said pointing to the inside of the shop. "A laundromat on the surface but behind the scenes is something else."

"I can imagine," said Ryuko. "Who took them out?"

"We don't know, we only came when bystanders heard the sound of gunshots and called us," said the cop.

Ryuko bit at the inside of her lip as she considered this information. There were only two real options she could think that it could have been and unfortunately since there had been no cooperation with the police beforehand, that left only one real option. "Vigilantes?"

"Vigilante, singular, these guys seemed to be unashamed in telling us that little tidbit of information."

"I see."

"He even stated that he gave away his name, or his alias I guess you would call it. Does the name Archer mean anything to you?"

"Archer," repeated Ryuko wondering if she had heard that term somewhere before. Perhaps she would reach out to some of her contacts and see if they had any idea. "I will see what I can find out."

"That would be much appreciated," said the policeman earnestly. "The only other real intel we got on him was that despite calling himself an Archer, he defeated them all with only a pair of swords."

"Swords, you mean similar to that kid who took on all those heroes a little while back?"

"We thought so as well but we sent word to U.A. we were informed that with the extra patrols on duty there was little to no chance that their renegade student had gotten out for the night. We asked them to check just in case and the principal informed us that Hound Dog went to check just to be sure but returned with intel letting us know the suspect was accounted for. Hence we have reason to believe it's somebody with a similar quirk, or perhaps even a copycat of some sorts trying to make a name for themselves by utilising someone else's infamy as it were."

"Perhaps, did they give a description of the individual?" asked Ryuko. As the officer jotted down the notes that he and his team had managed to grasp thus far, the number nine hero in the country had a troubling feeling that something here was just out of touch just a little too much for her liking. U.A was miles from where she was currently standing and with the thought of the security the academy had at its disposal, nobody would sanely try to get in or out without some fear of being caught.

Yet a teenager who was more than willing to go toe to toe and successfully hospitalized a number of professional heroes with a smile on their face wasn't someone you'd initially call sane. While she had no real jurisdiction in the academy and how they did things, she would ask Nejire to keep an eye out for her.

Best case scenario, she was being over paranoid and nothing would come of this.

Worst case though... well she'd get to that point if it arrived.

...

Shirou sat at the back of the bus, his eyes closed as he paid little attention to the conversations flowing around him. They were on their way to a separate facility where they would be doing some 'Rescue' training which had gotten many of the students pumped.

Next to him sat the Vice President who had managed to garner quite a number of votes having managed to fight alongside him the day before. Jiro had originally taken the top spot as President of the class but after Iida's performance gathering the attention of the students during the crisis regarding the media (Shirou had been unaware that there had been a crisis) the brother of Ingenium had taken the top position.

If Jiro had wanted to use this opportunity to try to get to know Shirou a little better, she had struggled from the get go. She had offered to share her music with Shirou who had brushed her off, opting to rest in silence. Hence she now found herself flicking through a multitude of tracks in some sort of curiosity, wondering what kind of genre the person beside her would appreciate.

"If we're talking about the double whammy of flashy and strong, then you have to consider both Todoroki and Bakugo."

Shirou tuned in mildly, quickly figuring out that they were talking about their quirks and how the populace would see them.

"I think we're also forgetting about the elephant in the room, or bus as it were."

Shirou allowed a sigh to escape his lips before opening his eyes to find a number of people staring at him. "I mean, you can't deny it after yesterday Shirou," said Kaminari, a cheeky smile off his face. "The way that you managed to exploit our weaknesses and use your teammates to the best of their ability, that's something only the pros can do."

"Indeed," said Tokoyami, his arms crossed over his chest. "While your quirk might revolve around weapon creation, it is clear that you trained extensively in various forms of combat."

"What do you reckon Shirou, could your sharpest sword penetrate my armour?" questioned Kirishima, his arm hardening as he laid out the verbal challenge.

Shirou sighed once more as he leant forward, knowing full well that the entirety of the bus would be listening in to what he was about to say. "For me to answer that, there is something you need to know about my...quirk," said Shirou, still feeling how odd it was to describe his ability as something similar to the oddities the rest of the planet could accomplish. To further prove the point he was about to make, he focused for several seconds before a beautiful katana appeared in his hands. "This katana is one of Masamune's creations, one currently held in the National Museum. Every single weapon I can craft, is one that I have seen before. As soon as I lay my eyes on a weapon, I can recreate it down to the smallest of details. Though this will not work on firearms, something about the inner mechanisms I'm unable to replicate."

To further iterate his point, Shirou unsheathed the blade and held it upwards, the light coming through the windows gleaming off the polished steel. "Now tell me Kirishima, would you still wager your challenge against a katana crafted by one of Japan's greatest swordsmiths?"

All heads shifted as one to where the teenager in question was sitting. His look of confidence from before was still apparent on his face though cracks had begun to show. "Geez, you're putting me on the back foot here mate," he said sheepishly as he rubbed at the back of his head. "I mean I thought you just created stock standard weapons like some sort of factory, knowing that you can only recreate those you've seen before, and clearly you've seen some of the best, makes me feel underprepared."

"So," started Tsuyu, interjecting her own thoughts on the conversation currently unfolding. "If what you are saying is true, you can't create an original weapon?"

"Which then begs the larger question," said Midoriya as he focused on Shirou. "How many weapons have you seen?"

"More than you can imagine."

It was a simple statement, yet a highly effective one. Every person on that bus had crafter their own idea of Shirou's backstory after having witnessed his clash with the heroes on social media. Thus they all used their theories to craft an idea of just how many melee weapons Shirou had been subjected to over the years, with the now included knowledge that all he had to do was visit a museum and their greatest treasures became tools for him to utilise.

The numbers that came from there ideas however painted a terrifying portrait. The class went silent at that information and the rest of the bus ride carried on with a sense of unease resting over it.

...

"This lesson will serve as a fresh start!" declared Thirteen, the professional hero capable of crafting Black Holes. He had already gone over how his quirk, while perfectly capable of helping someone in a time of need, could also be something that went terribly wrong if used incorrectly. Shirou was appreciating the fact that the person before them had informed those in front of him that the quirks they had at their disposal could both be used to help in any given situation, but everything had the potential to turn south instantly. Overconfidence usually had the unfortunate side effect of getting thrown into a situation one was ill prepared for.

"Let's get to studying about how to wield our quirks for the sake of human life! Your quirks emphatically do not exist to hurt others! Please leave this exercise having fully understood that your quirks exist to help other people! You have my gratitude for listening so intently and patiently!" concluded Thirteen, complete with a bow towards the students in front of him.

A round of applause was sent out but Shirou sent no such attention. He had greatly enjoyed the speech that had been given. It was just unfortunate that at the end of it he had noticed something changing, shifting ever so slightly. He wasn't the only one. As Shirou looked towards the nearby water fountain, Aizawa also moved his gaze towards the area.

It only took a couple of seconds, but that was enough as people with harmful intentions stepped out of a warp area that was all too familiar to Shirou. For Aizawa, his full concentration went onto the protection of the students, barking instructions without a moment having been spared. Shirou meanwhile braced himself for the coming conflict, immediately coming to the understanding that he may have played his hand far too soon for his liking.

"I wonder if All Might will show up if we kill the kids?"

Those few words send shivers down the spines of all the students in attendance, though it wasn't the spokee that Shirou focused on, his gaze looking on to the man with the power capable of bringing all these people here. For how could he confidently swing with a blade when there was an opponent who could alter where his strike would land?

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night or My Hero Academia**

**...**

Aizawa looked at the teenager beside him and the manner in which he braced himself for the coming conflict. His hands were prepared and ready to summon a weapon to his side at a moment's notice and if instructed, he would undoubtedly go down there and be a force to be reckoned with.

The teacher however knew, that while possibly capable of assisting him, he couldn't send a kid down into a battlezone.

"Protect them," he commanded. "Remember, heroes don't kill."

With his words said, he turned and started barking orders to his fellow hero in Thirteen. As Midoryia tried to argue that he couldn't take them all on and that his battle style wasn't suited, he lowered his specialized visor onto his face. "A hero always has more than one trick up his sleeve," he concluded before he leapt off the railing.

As he descended towards the pack, his quirk activated, preventing himself from being fired upon by those who had ranged abilities. Landing amongst them, he went to work, his capture tape quickly binding multiple enemies and with a swift tug, was able to make them collide together. Probably not enough damage to take them out for the duration of the battle, but it gave him some time to work on the rest of them.

"He erases quirks huh," said a bulk of a man, his body made of stone and had an extra two arms at his disposal. His strength amongst those around him who had been hired for the job was second to none and because his quirk was mutation based, he sincerely doubted that the man in front of him had the ability to render him merely human. "Can you even..."

That was as far as the man got before immeasurable amounts of pain coursed through his body. Despite the hardness that he possessed, an arrow had pierced through his calf sending pain shooting through his system. Aizawa, seeing the opportunity before him, capitalized by punching the man square in the face and enacting his way of capturing those who did have mutation quirks. While the assistance was appreciated, he needed to tell the brat that he should have a little more faith in him.

...

"C'mon! We've got to evacuate!" shouted Iida trying desperately to grab the attention of those who were watching their teacher go against the invading forces.

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that."

The class froze in place behind Thirteen, the hero garbed in the astronaut attire stretching out his arms in order to prevent anybody directly in his shadow from stepping forth into the black vortex which had manifested before them. Stepping from the shadows was the villain responsible for being able to directly transport all these people into the facility.

"Greetings," he said in a surprisingly polite tone. "I apologize, but we took it upon ourselves to enter Yuuei Academy, the base of heroes, in order to engage with All Might, the 'Symbol of Peace.' We were wondering if we would be allowed the opportunity to extinguish him you see. Was All Might not meant to be at this juncture? Perhaps had something been altered? Ah well...setting that aside..."

Whatever was meant to immediately follow was cut short as the students and Thirteen watched in awe as Shirou almost materialized behind the villain who was impeding their path. His arm was held back over his shoulder, his weapon on choice poised to strike and in a single motion, he swung.

Thirteen was unable to react in time as the black vortex appeared next to him and the weapon collided with his shoulder with enough force to almost break his arm. He could hear the students cry out in shock about what had just transpired but he was already breaking down several important facts, most notably the fact that he hadn't been mortally wounded by a bladed weapon. Instead of his flesh being sliced by steel, he had been hit with a shinai, a training weapon used for kendo.

"Curious, and here I was thinking that you would have gone straight for the kill," said the villain, almost perplexed by the fact that he hadn't been able to read the situation in its entirety. "Wise though, knowing full well that I had the ability to manipulate where your strike would land."

"I have a couple theories regarding how best to get past your power," said Shirou as he rested his manifested weapon of choice on his shoulder. Torashinai seemed to be purring in his ear, almost upset that it hadn't struck true of its intended target.

"My, if your mind is working it's way into getting through my quirk then you are more of a villain than I," they said before twin portals opened mere inches from Shirou's face. The other side of the portals came through two attacks, one from Bakugo and one from Kirishima. The explosion that Bakugo unleashed struck him square in the face while Kirishima's blow cracked him across the kaw, knocking his head violently to the side.

"Shit!" cursed Bakugo, likely more angry with having missed the target in front of him than having hit Shirou.

"Sorry man," apologized Kirishima.

Shirou merely rubbed at his jaw as he turned his head back around to face the shadowy figure in front of him. "The strength of those blows would have rendered any normal man unconscious, yet here you stand," they said menacingly. "I believe we are lucky to have brought him along."

Shirou's eyes sharpened at the mention of someone who the man before him believed could match or even surpass him in combat. It was during this singular moment that black tendrils spread in all directions, swiftly encompassing all in their wake. Shirou mentally cursed as he tried to leap backwards away from the darkness that threatened to consume him to no avail. He could only hope that those who had been furthest away from the man had been able to escape his clutch.

"Scatter."

...

Aizawa stumbled to the side as he avoided the knife strike which threatened to slice open his abdomen. He couldn't allow any more damage to befall his body, not after having had his elbow broken and nearly disintegrated by the man whom seemed as if he was partially leading the group.

If his ability and the fact that he had been the first to deal some manner of damage wasn't an indication that he was one of the strongest present, then the fact that he had gone into a monologue helped solidify the idea. Villains and their monologues, just stupid ways to boats about how superior they were or how the world would change because of their nefarious plan.

It was then that the shadow loomed over him and he couldn't help but turn to look at who was about to strike him down. Large, was the first word to come to mind considering that the man's hand looked as if it could crush his skull with minimal effort. The exposed brain looked as if it was an obvious weak point but with it being as open as it was meant the person knew that they would have to defend it when the situation arose.

A beastial arm began it's decent towards him and Aizawa knew that he had to move. He had no way of anticipating how quickly the blow descended upon him, striking him clean and causing his specialized goggles to go flying off of his head. He crashed to the ground spectacularly, his body reeling from the damage that it had sustained.

Aizawa struggled to push himself to his knees, feeling blood flow from freshly made wounds. He knew that he had to move but his body refused to respond at the pace he wished of it. Turning his head, he was able to watch the behemoth march towards him at an almost leisurely pace. That was until the projectiles began to rain down, encircling him as if protectively. Barely a second was all it took for near twenty swords of differing sizes and shapes to create a barrier between him and all those who wished him harm.

Understandably, they all looked upwards curious as to where the weapons had fallen from. Aizawa, whilst knowing, couldn't help but look himself to find Shirou falling from a height that should have been impossible for him to get to in the first place. Despite the impending death that potentially awaiting him from having fallen from such a height with the ground waiting for him below, Shirou had summoned a bow to his side and had the string pulled backwards before launching an arrow.

Said arrow was knocked to the side by the monster of a man, the target of Shirou's attack. Seemingly unfazed, Shirou opted to send three more arrows outwards, each weapon striking the calf of its intended target and rendering them essentially incapable of fighting any longer.

Shirou then struck the ground. Struck the ground hard. Aizawa couldn't help but swallow a lump that had formed in his throat as having watched Shirou fall and hit the floor. From the moment the swords had implanted themselves into the dirt and Shirou hitting the surface had taken no more than three seconds, yet well enough time for anyone without a strength quirk to have their bones shatter and their life potentially lost.

Aizawa was not one to gawk at a situation at the best of times. Watching his student stand up after having hit the ground at a speed which should have rendered him immobile, was such a circumstance which he would be forgiven for having made the expression he currently was.

He had hypothesized that there was more to Shirou than what met the eye. His feats during the opening test he had crafted had proved that Shirou was not only capable of crafting weapons, but that his quirk may have altered his body in such a way that it allowed him to utilize said weapons to their maximum potential.

This was merely a hypothesis, one that he had intended on taking a long time breaking down and proving through numerous tests. Now however he merely had to hope that whatever the truth was, it was enough to walk away victorious.

...

Shirou allowed the bow in his hand to dissipate into nothing before his trusted twin blades formed in his hands. He had his eyes set on a single target, the one who had been able to bat the arrow that had threatened to pierce his flesh out of the sky as if it were nothing. True that it had been an unnamed arrow, just something that he could manifest without a second thought but the ability to knock something travelling that fast out of the air with ease warranted his attention.

It was clear that the creature's attention was now on him now, Aizawa seemingly momentarily safe, at least long enough for him to get his wits about him. That wasn't the only person whom he was the target of and battle instincts allowed him to duck beneath the punch that had been aimed at the back of his head to sail over him safely. Driving the pommel on Kanshou into the person's abdomen, Shirou was able to tell instantly that they would not be getting up to fight any time soon. Regardless, he did not take his eyes off of the true threat.

Rightfully so, as the behemoth charged at him swiftly, it's arm pulled back and prepared to take him out in a single blow. Leaping backwards, Shirou was able to watch as the fist embedded itself into the ground, a solid spiderweb of cracks spreading out in a wide diameter from where the blow had struck. If those watching had expected fear to come into his being from watching such a display of strength, they were sadly mistaken.

As soon as his footing had become stable, Shirou proceeded forward. Twin blades outstretched in each arm, he watched as the uppercut barrelled towards him, a finishing move that would have potentially incapacitated him were it to directly land. It never even touched him however as he arched backwards, the fist striking nothing but air as Shirou slid beneath it before striking out with both Kanshou and Bakuya, cleanly severing the left leg off of the beast.

That was only part of his attack however as he got up from his kneeling position, twisting as he crafted his distance. During his turn however he was able to outstretch his arm and allow Bakuya to cleave a chunk out of the creature's stomach. Shirou skidded away as he braced himself for a follow up but momentarily paused as the sound of clapping echoed throughout the otherwise silent area.

"Congratulations, you really are strong," said the man who was covered by hands that gripped themselves onto his body. "However, you forgot to take something into account. This Nomu was designed to take out All Might, not small fry like you." As the words were being said, Shirou could only watch as the recently named Nomu began to regenerate. First the wound in it's stomach sealed shut before a new leg burst forward from the stump he had previously severed. "Now...what will you do now?"

Shirou kept his composure, something which many in his position would never have been able to accomplish. The twin blades which he relied so heavily upon vanished from his grip as he adjusted his stance. Taking a moment to manifest the weapon he envisioned, he knew that it wasn't his fighting style of choice but it was one that could eliminate the probability of regeneration...possibly.

He had never tested this weapon against somebody with regenerative abilities after all.

The Nomu charged forward, faster than it had before in a display that it was deciding to get serious after having had to regrow its leg. Shirou pulled the head of the weapon down in order to absorb an amount of the damage he would have taken, keeping his arms rigid so that no part of the point was close to his skin. Regardless of that he was knocked back however, skidding several feet backwards with his heels kicking up dust as he came to a stop.

"That is a beautiful weapon there, I imagine it could fetch quite a bit of money," mused the limb covered man from the sidelines, admiring the golden spear that Shirou had in his hands.

Shirou paid him no mind, instead speaking to somebody else in attendance. "Can I leave you to protect my back?" he asked.

"Who do you take me for?"

"Good," replied Shirou as Aizawa sprung into action, the minutes he had had in isolation allowing him to return to the fight, despite the broken limb that rendered his combat ability limited. Against the small fry however, even with only a single arm he believed himself more than capable of handling those who had been brought to the fight.

The Nomu seemingly paid Aizawa and the ensuing battle no mind as it focused solely upon Shirou who seemed to be taking this brief moment of respite to prepare himself for what was necessary.

...

From the nearby waterway, the trio of Midoriya, Asui and Mineta watched on in shock. The trio had been able to successfully immobilize those who had wished to do them harm utilizing their quirks. Now however, none of them could come up with a way to help in the situation that was unfolding before them.

Midoriya knew that the latent power inside of him had the ability to turn the tide of a battle in an instant yet the broken finger he had sustained from taking out those of lesser strength kept him immobilized. He didn't have enough control over his quirk to be able to actually make a worthwhile contribution to the battle about to take place. Or more importantly, were he to jump into the action, chances were that he would get in the way and those more capable of fighting would get injured protecting him.

He hated it. All this power and no safe way to use it.

One for All begged to be used but he could do nothing in this moment of time.

Midoriya could only watch.

Watch and learn what it truly meant to be a hero.

...

Shirou allowed himself to be on the defensive, focusing on ducking and weaving the slew of fists that came his way. He knew that he was unlikely to win in a battle of stamina, due to the fact that the shadowy figure had clearly pointed out this creature as their trump card. Or if this turned out to not be their trump card then he would get to that when he got there.

Now however, he saw an opening.

The creature's arm had overextended by the barest of margins as Shirou struck, the point of the spear he was wielding striking as the creature was retracting it's arm, severing the hand at the wrist. "Don't you ever learn," said the man from the sidelines, mildly adjusting the palm which clung to his face. "You're such a one trick pony, finish him already Nomu."

Nomu however remained fixated in place, staring at it's wrist where it's hand should have been growing from. The correct wording being, should have been. Seconds ticked by as the Nomu clearly attempted to regrow the severed limb to no avail.

"What did you do?" asked the hand encased man, clearly wanting some answers.

"This is Gáe Buide," announced Shirou, not moving from his position and prepared for an oncoming attack. "This weapon is cursed you see, no wound made by this weapon will ever recover."

Seconds ticked by as Shirou's explanation slowly sunk in before the villain began to shudder. "Cheat...you cheater...how can a weapon be cursed? How can you have such a weapon?"

"Please, if I showed off half the weapons I have at my disposal you would never believe where I'd seen them before," said Shirou as he sprung forward, utilizing the distraction he had caused. Before the Nomu reacted, it's left leg had been severed at the knee, causing the creature to drop down, unable to balance itself properly.

Twisting on the spot, Shirou used his momentum to take off the corresponding arm off at the shoulder before twisting the weapon above his head and cleaving off the right leg. The Nomu, for all intents and purposes, growled out something incoherent but it was clear that it was a message of rage.

Shirou mercilessly removed the fistless arm of the Nomu, rendering it merely a torso with a head. The red haired teenager allowed the weapon at his disposal to vanish into nothingness, no more needed to be done with the cursed weapon. At the same time however, he couldn't feel like the true strength and speed that the creature had at it's disposal hadn't been used on him. After all, he wasn't their target, All Might was.

"No...no...NO!" shouted the villain, clearly distraught about the outcome.

It was also at this time that the shadowy villain arrived, appearing out of the darkness that had been crafter mere feet from where the leader stood. He took several moments to summarize the situation before making the smartest call he could.

"Come, let us recollect on our defeat," he said calmly.

And with that, the duo vanished from their position. Shirou allowed himself to take a breath of fresh air before he turned around to see Aizawa still dealing with the fodder. Calling Bakuya and Kanshou back to his side, he opted to give his assistance, whether it was wanted or not.

...

Scrambling out of the water, Midoriya, Asui and Mineta could only watch as their teacher and peer rendered their opponents unable to continue. Calling Shirou a peer however was an overstatement if there ever was one.

The battle, as short as it may have been, was done at a speed they could barely keep up with, only able to recognize damage well after the attack had been swung. Adjusting his gaze slightly, Midoriya noted that a number of his fellow students whom had avoided the initial separation, watching over the supporting rail, seemingly unwilling to join in the fray. He didn't blame them in the slightest, both seemed more than capable of taking out the handful that remained on their own.

It was stereotypical however, that as the duo managed to take down their final opponent and allowed a moment of reprieve that the door to the facility broke open, debris flying in all directions.

"I am here!" declared All Might. Seconds later the number one hero realized that the unease he had felt, whilst true, had already been rectified, leaving him standing there like some sort of buffoon as he mentally worked out what had happened.

"So...everything seems to be in order here...though I don't remember other's being invited to participate as villains, did I miss a notice?"

"Get medics here now!" shouted Aizawa.

"Understood."

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

**...**

The rippling of flesh beginning to reshape itself into something resembling a limb was halted as Shirou brought the cursed spear back into reality. He had noticed the beast relatively motionless but had kept his guard up regardless. At the first sign of the regeneration he had brought Gáe Buide back into existence. In doing so, the wounds which had attempted to regrow were prevented from doing so.

"Do you think that was wise kid?" asked Aizawa from nearby, clutching at his damaged arm. "Telling them how your weapon worked."

"They had seen what had become of this thing because of Gáe Buide, they would have come up with a similar conclusion on their own," explained Shirou as he drove the head of the spear deep into the ground.

"So you were helping them then," declared Aizawa.

"No, I was giving them just one reason to fear me."

Aizawa couldn't prevent the hairs on the back of his head from standing on edge at Shirou's words. He had known that a number of heroes had struggled to capture him before the school term had even commenced and having watched his display and even fought by his side it was easy to understand how they had struggled.

"We got lucky in this instance," said Shirou as the main doors opened, All Might leading medical personal into the building as well as a number of heroes. "This guy here was meant to be their way to take down him. They just didn't realize that they'd come across me."

Again, Aizawa was unable to prevent the chills that spread across his body. He had felt firsthand the strength that this monster had possessed and it was abundantly clear that his regenerative abilities were something extraordinary. During the fight however, when it was unable to grow it's limb back, it had paused, confused almost about why something wasn't going the way it should. Could incredible strength and the ability to regenerate limbs have been enough to take down All Might, it was hard to tell and he was thankful that he would never have to witness such a clash.

"So you're saying you're stronger than All Might."

"Don't know," said Shirou with a shrug. "I do know that I ended up being a better match against someone who was brought here to absorb blow after blow from a man with great strength. I doubt it even went full bore at me, probably could only regenerate so much or take so much damage in total before reaching it's limit, hence not going all out. By the time they realized how much danger they were in, it was all over."

Aizawa sharpened his eyes as he looked at the boy in front of him, though it almost looked as if he was looking at a hardy battle veteran. Even the way he had just broken down the bout with the creature that resided near where they were standing was more than some heroes filled out on their official reports. Unfortunately that didn't give him much detail regarding what Shirou was truly capable of in the grand scheme of things. Having been able to block a blow which theoretically shatter bones was something which no normal teenager have been capable of doing, not to mention reacting in time in the first place. The ability to systematically disassemble his opponent with no second thought was concerning but he was not going to nitpick about that now.

Also, and he wasn't going to say this out loud, he felt like the teenager had been doing an experiment of sorts regarding the creature who was still breathing despite the damage it had taken. Shirou seemingly had been testing the time that it took for the beast to regenerate and possibly working out whether injuries recovered at the same time or whether there was a delay due to the number of injuries that had been sustained. It was terrifying thoughts but ones that he had to keep in the back of his mind under the possibility of being true.

For now, he needed to report just what had happened.

...

"Look, it's not your fault," said Jiro as she rubbed at Momo's back. The two of them plus Kaminari had returned from the space in which they had been teleported still shocked by the developments that had taken place. Kaminari in more of a literal sense than the two women but that was a different topic.

They had done well in the situation they had found themselves in, surrounded by the opposition and being able to take down a majority of those who opposed them was no easy feat. It was just unfortunate that one of the enemies were able to get past Kaminair's widespread attack and take the boy hostage, almost willing to kill the boy if the two of them were unwilling to cooperate. That of course had changed entirely when his peripheral vision had caught sight of his ticket out of the academy leave with only one other individual leaving him effectively stranded. With All Might standing in the doorway and his leadership having actively fled the scene, he had thought it wise to take this opportunity to surrender and hope that in doing so he would spend less time in prison for his actions.

Learning however that every other group that had been set upon by villains however had managed to overcome their respective obstacles without any showing of defeat had left a sour taste in Yaoyorozu's mouth. If that wasn't bad enough, word had quickly spread about just why the most dangerous individuals had retreated when they had. If it had been the arrival of the number one hero, she would have been more understanding on the situation. To learn however that it was the doing of the individual who had successfully guided his team to victory through hellish conditions however to succeed where many others would have failed the previous day.

Emiya Shirou.

It wasn't like she wasn't aware that he was skilled. Far from it. She had no idea how far the gap was however. Part of her had believed that all the footage she had seen of heroes going against Shirou and his accomplice had shown the heroes in a good light. They were professional heroes and as such she had willingly believed that they had been pulling their punches against people who were in the middle of a crowded area.

Apparently she was wrong in her beliefs. She now fully understood that the heroes had not been pulling their punches. Shirou and by all accounts his partner, were incredibly powerful. There was no two ways to look about it.

"What was it like?" she said softly, almost inaudible due to the amount of people around them. "Having him lead you."

JIro found herself leaning backwards, her gaze shifting towards the roof. "It was...odd," she said with a sigh. "You know that feeling, when everyone has faith in you but you feel that deep down you can't live up to their expectations. Shirou made us believe that we could not only live up to those expectations, but surpass them. I mean, he told me to fight Tokoyami head on, fully aware that I was the team leader and that if I failed it meant the team was out. He gave me advice, pointed out some oncoming attacks I should have been aware of and helped lead me to victory and without him, I doubt that I would have even thought I could beat Tokoyami."

"So...he gave you faith...in yourself?" summarized Yaoyarozu, unsure if what she was saying was correct.

"Yea," said Jiro as she found herself playing with the jack dangling from her left ear. "Could I have done any of that without him, I doubt it. All of us, I think we got better from just being near him, by having help us and believe in us."

"Believing in yourself," said Momo as if stuck in a trance, Jiro opting not to continue as personal came by to check up on them for what felt like the second time more than necessary.

...

Shirou watched as the behemoth of a creature was wrapped up in 'supposedly' unbreakable bonds. Honestly he seriously doubted that the restraints would have any effect on Berserker but that was a thought for another time. He got the subtle nod of the head from an officer nearby, signalling for Shirou to remove Gáe Buide from this plain of existence once more. As he did though he started counting internally the seconds ticking by before the creature successfully was able to have fully grown limbs once more.

Despite being physically at its peak, the beast made no effort to resist it's capture, almost submitting to the law enforcement as further restraints were placed on the newly acquired limbs. The exposed brain gave Shirou the unsettling feeling that the creature before him was being controlled, or at least had been whilst the invasion was unfolding. If it was being controlled, then that meant that somebody was controlling it, which unfortunately meant there was a mastermind.

Shirou was broken from his moment of concentration as he felt a presence behind him. Turning slowly, he found himself looking at the form of Midoriya, the boy almost struggling to keep his composure. Shirou could understand why, undoubtedly rumours had spread based on the very true fact that he had dismembered something that the association that had attacked them believed could kill All Might.

As for Midoriya, the small lad was doing his best to keep head strong, especially after what had just went down. He, Asui and Mineta had found themselves in a battle against the numbers before finding themselves able to turn the situation into their favour. That also meant that they had returned in time to see a chunk of the bout that had taken place.

"Can...could you...train me?"

The question was slow and ill paced considering the context. Midoriya hadn't quite been sure how to ask said question without directly insulting All Might. The number one hero had put so much time and effort into helping him get into the prestigious academy in the first place that it felt as if he was breaking an unspoken promise. With that said however, All Might was still a professional hero, as well as a teacher. There was minimal time that he would be able to get a one on one training session in with the top hero.

So he had to look elsewhere.

"Ask me again, properly," instructed Shirou.

Midoriya swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat before stiffening himself, both physically and mentally. "Could you train me?" he repeated, determination ringing through his voice.

"No."

Shock ran through Midoryia's system as he stood there flummoxed, having not expected to be shut down in such a manner. He knew it has been a long shot but he hadn't thought that he had had no chance whatsoever.

"Why?"

Surprisingly, it wasn't Midoriya who had spoken. Rather it had been Yaoyorozu, the teenage woman having seen her green haired peer making his way towards Shirou and with Jiro's words ringing in her ears, had chosen to approach as well.

It seemed however she wasn't the only one. In groups of twos and threes, Class 1-A found themselves standing in front of Shiro with two exceptions of Todoroki and Bakugo. Somehow, it wasn't surprising to anybody in attendance.

"Why won't you teach him? Or teach us for that matter?" asked Momo, finding her voice. "It doesn't matter that we're students, villains came to us in our school and attacked us. Our teachers did what they could but..."

"Then let them teach you," interrupted Shirou, jabbing his thumb over to where the professional heroes were congregated. A couple of them had the great idea to look upset by the fact that their students didn't have faith in them, more so Midnight who was pouting at the thought that the teenagers didn't want to be taught by her. Unfortunately that seemed to will the crowd on more than it should have.

"Then how did you learn?" asked Kirishima, his hands clenched into fists. "Can't you at least tell us how you learned?"

"I fought," said Shirou, recalling the training he had gone through against Saber. "I fought against someone far stronger than me, again and again, over and over. Every time I fell, I got back up. If you wanted me to train you, then I would knock you down, time and time again without hesitation. If you were able to last a second longer in your final bout than your first, then congratulations you successfully made progress. I didn't have the luxury of time on my side to gain strength and only had that option out of desperation and necessity. Without it, there is little doubt that I would not be standing here right now."

His words hung in the air and he could see that a few of the students were still contemplating the idea of training with him, for at least a single session. Running his fingers through his hair, Shirou allowed a sigh to escape from his lips. "If you really want to train with me," he said slowly, hoping he wouldn't regret the decision he was about to make. "Meet me in the gymnasium after the final bell."

His instructions, understandably triggered some of the teachers who could hear what he was saying. "Oi! Oi!" shouted Present Mic as he crossed the distance between where the two groups were standing, kicking up dust in his wake. "These kids just went through hell, and you want to beat them up more before they have a chance to recover? What kind of heartless man are you?"

"Will their enemies give them time to breathe?" asked Shirou, the glance he sent at the teacher causing the professional hero to take half a step backwards. "Of course not. They don't care if you're exhausted, fatigued or injured, they'll see that as an opportunity to take advantage of the situation. At that time, regardless of your condition, you have to stand up and give it everything you have and more."

Shirou knew that his message had been received, but he felt like he needed to add insult to injury. "Plus Ultra."

He could almost see the anime style tic mark appear on Present Mic's forehead at the school motto's being used against him. Thankfully, before he could rise to the taunt, Principal Nezu spoke up and in doing so brought the attention upon himself. "While Mister Emiya's words do ring true, I do know that rest and recuperation is important to one's understanding of themselves. Sometimes to simply be able to reflect on how one progressed throughout the course of the day is something truly wonderful in it's own right. I do know however that you are teenagers and as such some of you may or may not have had your fair share of action today. If you feel as if you still have something to prove, then I encourage you to join Mister Emiya in the gymnasium where Midnight will overlook proceedings."

"However, this is truly optional and any injuries sustained in said exercise will not be looked over by Recovery Girl and you will have to let your bruises, welts and cuts heal in their own time. You might consider them your badges of honour or horrible blotches on your skin, it matters not. I have full trust that Mister Emiya will not use potentially lethal methods in teaching those of you who join him but I also believe he will not go easy on you. You have been warned."

Shirou couldn't help but internally thank the principal for speaking up when he did and he wasn't silly enough to use any lethal weapon against schoolchildren. Torashinai would more than likely be enough. Now there was the grand question however of how many standing before him would be foolish enough to fight him.

...

The remainder of the school day seemed to drag on and on before the final bell rang, signalling that they were free to leave the premises. Todoroki meanwhile had no intention of leaving the grounds when the rest of the academy opted to head home. Many of his fellow Class 1-A students had the same mindframe. Shirou had already been permitted to head to the gymnasium to prepare himself for the training he was going to give.

'Training' being the subjective word in that statement.

He could hear the gossiping of his peers as they marched around him to the gym. He cared not for their meanderings as he focused on the objective before him. Could he go toe to toe with Emiya Shirou? He was going to find out one way or the other.

The doors to the gymnasium opened up, Ashido being the one to open the entryway to reveal that Shirou already had his first opponent standing opposite him. While it momentarily shocked some of those around him, Todoroki quickly worked out that this was likely a way for upperclassmen to have an opportunity to go against one of the best the school has to offer in a semi controlled environment.

He, along with his peers, entered the area as quietly as they could before closing the door behind them. Other than the two competitors and Midnight, there were only two other students in attendance, likely friends of the person who had challenged Shirou. It would be interesting to see how someone else who had yet to see Shirou in action could face off against him.

Or it would just be plain interesting as numerous screams of shock echoed around him as the person whom had challenged Shirou found himself naked, his clothes falling off his body without any warning whatsoever.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**For those of you who commented on Gae Buide's curse, I completely understand where you are coming from and I hope that the explanation given is satisfactory.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

...

If the opening moment had intended to shock Shirou, no such surprise came across his features. Instead of a look of horror, there was simply a single eyebrow raised in curiosity.

His opponent, the third year student who had earlier introduced himself as Mirio, seemed to only smile in response. Whether the boy had been expecting a larger or more dramatic response from Shirou it seemingly no longer mattered.

It was an opening move Mirio had used against all first time sparring partners, getting a psychological advantage before a punch had even been thrown. Whether or not Shirou had encountered somebody with a similar quirk to his own, Mirio didn't know. What he did know was that he could practically feel his blood boiling.

The tension in Shirou's feet was the opening sign that something was about to happen before the weapon creator charged forward, crossing the distance between the two competitors in a flash. In his hand, Torashinai roared through the air with the will to deal damage to the person before it.

The strike struck true but there was the surprising lack of weapon on flesh which usually came when a blow connected. Many on the sidelines could only watch in curiosity but in the middle, Shirou had already garnered something of an understanding of Mirio's quirk.

Mirio, feeling like he had already given too much away, pressed on the offence, his fist cocked back with his target in sight. Shirou reacted in time, gliding slightly to the left to avoid the blow which had threatened to imbed itself into his stomach. He watched as his retaliation strike went over Torashinai's prey but not by his own merit, but rather Mirio having sunk into the ground.

It took only a handful of moments for Mirio to have completely submerged himself from view before Shirou swung out behind him, adjusting slightly to the fact that Mirio was several feet off the ground.

Like his previous assault, Torashinai phased through Mirio but Shirou halted his attack midway, keeping the weapon fixated in Mirio's body. The third year student landed on the ground and Shirou got the answer in that moment he required. It was only when Mirio went to attack him, did he allow Torashinai to glide out of Mirio's body.

Mirio's oncoming attack was a twofold one from what Shirou could tell. The hand reaching for his face was merely a distraction to the fist cocked and primed to strike him in the chest once more. Ignoring the fingers mere inches away from his eyes, Shirou conjured his counter for what was about to happen.

Mirio meanwhile felt himself freeze for the briefest of seconds as his phased fingers didn't necessarily go through closed eyelids, but rather the very wide opened eyes of Shirou who seemed to have realized that he had no intention of permanently blinding a fellow student. Mirio pressed on however and launched his fist forward, this time managing to connect with Shirou's torso.

Only to pull back his hand in shock and pain, blood openly oozing from several nasty cuts he had received. It had been a while since he had felt such pain though he didn't try to let the emotion show on his face. Those on the sidelines could only watch on in confusion, partially because of what had happened and the pace of everything. The entire bout had so far lasted no longer than six seconds and so much had already happened in such a short period of time.

"You crafted weapons underneath your clothes," stated Mirio, having worked out what Shirou had done.

"You aren't always intangible, you have to focus on what part of your body you want to be at any given time," retorted Shirou, mildly reeling from the blow which had pushed the steel he had crafted into his abdomens. The boy could pack a punch that was for sure.

While the words couldn't be heard by those standing in attendance, it was clear that there was some sort of understanding between the two combatants, the following clash was clear as day. Again, it was an incredible display of agility, skill and cunning as Shirou did his best to try and strike down an enemy he couldn't hit while his opponent tried to get an upper hand on a swordsman who was prepared for blows coming from his blind spots.

Breaking apart momentarily, Shirou altered his course of action as Torashinai vanished from sight. Mirio figuring something was afoot, allowed himself to slip beneath the surface once more, forcing his body to reappear several feet behind where Shirou was standing, having expected a trap of some sort. What he hadn't expected to see was that his opponent was not in his line of sight. As his feet hit the ground, Mirio turned around to protect his back and gain some leverage of sight of where Shirou would attack him from. Yet again however, he saw nothing.

Once more, the unfamiliar sensation of pain pierced through his body as an arrow struck his foot, grateful that the tip hadn't pierced his flesh. It would seem as if his opponent had opted not to use a tipped area, choosing to use one with a rubber end. Considering the accuracy of which it was shot, Mirio knew that it had been Shirou's target, his opponent already having utilized the times they had collided to work out several vantage points. Most people out of force of habit, aimed for the torso and head, two of the major targets.

While he could manipulate his quirk to allow blows to phase through when he knew they were coming, having his quirk permanently activated on his torso would prevent him from seeing or hearing anything. Perfect timing was required for him to utilize his quirk to the fullest.

His feet however, as soon as he allowed his quirk to flow through that part of his body he would lose his footing and begin to fall. Shirou had worked out that anytime they were standing across from each other was a time Mirio could be struck.

Shifting his gaze, Mirio looked above him to where Shirou hung more than thirty feet in the air, a black bow in his hands and another arrow notched and ready. Upon the loosening of the projectile, Mirio sunk into the ground beneath him, already having worked out the necessary amount of time to fall in order to find himself next to where Shirou was.

It was with little surprise that once light was once again accepted into his eyes to find Shirou facing him, the two of them on the descent towards the ground. In that brief moment when Mirio had been absent from sight, Shirou had changed weapons once again. The behemoth of a weapon was something which sent shivers through Mirio's system.

The club was nearly the same size as him and seemed to be some sort of hybrid between an axe and a club. Crafted of seemingly solid stone, Mirio prepared himself, watching the swing arc to see where Shirou would try to strike him with the weapon.

Yet it wasn't coming at him.

Shirou plummeted downwards, doing a complete front flip and bringing the club down with all the force he could muster. The moment that the weapon struck the ground the results were instantaneous. For those on the sidelines, they could do little more than scream in panic and shield their eyes as debris was sent in every feasible direction, crashing into the walls of the gymnasium.

Mirio landed on the ground as the dust was subsiding to discover the sheer destruction that Shirou had just displayed. The ground was in tatters, chunks of the ground stuck up from the floor while severe cracks more that half a foot wide spiderwebbed their way to the walls. Yet that was only the surface damage, Mirio could only imagine what had happened beneath ground level.

"You got me," he said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here," said Shirou as he hefted the colossal weapon so that it sat on his shoulder. "When you go beneath the surface, distance, timing and angle have something to do with where you next find yourself. You've only ever had to worry about beneath surface areas which were flat. If you were to fall now and try and reappear when your body would theoretically be where a crack of open space was, your trajectory would drastically change."

"You're not far off, when I deactivate my quirk and relocate myself, as far as I know it is only due to two objects of mass not being able to exist in a single location," explained Mirio. "With what you have done to the battleground, I sincerely doubt that I would be able to accurately predict where I would appear."

"Would you like to continue?" asked Shirou.

"No, I think you have given me enough to think about, though if you ever wish to spar again I will be more than happy to be your opponent," said Mirio giving Shirou a genuine smile.

"Very well, until we meet again," said Shirou as the massive weapon he had been holding vanished into nothing. He watched as Mirio went about putting his clothes back on, much to the relief of those who had been in attendance. Shirou had to admit that the student's ability was powerful when used correctly, though the mindframe he'd have to constantly be in would have taken an incredible amount of time to get to the level he was at.

"What's your name?" asked Shirou as Mirio finished dressing himself. For a couple of seconds, Mirio didn't respond considering he had given his name before the two of them had begun to combat one another. Slow realization came through before he gave his answer.

"Lemillion!" he boldly declared.

"Lemillion," repeated Shirou.

"Yes, the hero who will save a million people," said Mirio as he clenched his fist in front of his body, emphasising his declaration.

"Best of luck," said Shirou, Mirio giving him a farewell gesture before making his way across the desolation towards the exit.

While Tamaki followed behind Mirio, Nejire watched on for a little bit longer. Ryuko, the professional hero whom she trained under, had asked her to get any sort of intel that she could about the individual who had battled against her peer. What she had witnessed was something that she had kept rapt attention to and her usual bubbly demeanour had found itself silenced at the feat she had seen. Such things like the ability to leap as high into the air as Shirou had without a quirk that boosted him in such a way were definitely things that Ryuko would wish to be informed about. With those thoughts in her mind, she left the gymnasium following behind her fellow third year students.

With them now gone, Shirou turned his attention to his classmates, many of them staring at him standing in the middle of the destroyed landscape. "So, who's next?" he asked casually.

Understandably, nobody was keen to go first.

...

Principal Nezu sat in his chair, watching the footage from the gymnasium with his paws pressed together beneath his chin. To say that what he was watching was outstanding was putting it lightly. Also in the room were a vast number of the school faculty who had gone to the aid of the first year students when they had been under attack only to arrive at the scene too late.

"Kid's got some power," commented Snipe, analyzing the damage done to the establishment. Cementoss nodded in agreement, already preparing himself to fix the damage that had been done.

"I think that's putting it lightly," said Ectoplasm as she scratched at her cheek. "The force necessary to deal that level of damage is something which shouldn't be possible for someone with his quirk."

"Which means that he did that with just raw strength," stated Snipe.

"Raw strength, the ability to react to the difficult situations placed before him and adapt accordingly, incredible bursts of speed and we haven't even gotten to his quirk," listed Nezu as the camera showed Kirishima stepping forward to challenge. "At this stage if he felt like leaving on his own accord I don't believe that we'd have the ability to stop him."

"But All Might..."

"Isn't here all the time," said Nezu as he turned from the monitor. "The question is how do we keep him here? He was forced here through no will of his own and while he will be wanted by the authorities, he could fend them off if he so wished and only perhaps the top thirty heroes could stop him."

"Should we increase our security?" asked Snipe.

"No, that would make it too obvious that we are watching them," said Nezu. "I dare not set up cameras watching their lodgings under fear that they would be discovered and it could trigger them. Having Hound Dog doing perimetre checks should be enough for the moment."

"Well considering there is no school records for him, should we offer him some Quirk Counseling?" suggested Cementoss.

"I don't think that would be a wise option," stated Nezu, dreading the idea of one of his staff trying to talk to Shirou about when and where to use his quirk. "No, for now I think it best we wait and watch, act accordingly when the time is right. Plus we cannot focus on a single student when we have the Sports Festival approaching."

"And what's to prevent him from wiping out the competition?" said Snipe, pointing to the monitor where Shriou had successfully dispatched Kirishima with ease before beckoning the next student to step forward. The faculty members watched Midoriya approach, the green haired boy nervously moving forward before standing in front of Shirou. There was a brief exchanging of words, Shirou saying something that seemed to trigger Midoriya into action.

It was almost comical, how Shirou dodged the first three punches with ease and on the fourth blow simply extended his foot causing Midoriya to trip over it. There had been a good chance that the boy could have maintained his balance until Shirou gave him a moderate nudge with the end of the non lethal weapon he was holding. Midoriya fell to the floor and as he turned, the tip of the training Shinai found itself pressed to his chest, right where his heart was.

Shirou, his point having been made, turned his attention to where the rest of his peers were located, signalling for the next one to step up to him. As Momo came forward, the members of the staff could understand that this wasn't a training exercise for Shirou per say but he was pointing out the most obvious flaws with his opponents plans of attack.

"Something tells me that he won't go all out in the festival," commented Nezu, hoping that he was right in his beliefs.

...

Shirou took the empty dishes to the sink, he and Rin having finished their dinner for the evening. The sun had long since set and their homework was done for the day (as ridiculous as it was to do homework, though it helped them learn more about the world around them) but Shirou could see a look in Rin's eye informing him that there was something she wished to discuss. Placing the empty dishes down and opting to clean them later, Shirou returned to the table where Rin was resting, one hand holding her head up as her elbow rested on the wooden top.

"Are you aware there is a sports festival coming up?" she asked.

"First I've heard of it," said Shirou as he knelt down. "I take it, it's not your standard school sports carnival."

"Over the top is putting it lightly," said Rin. "We were shown last year's event in class today and it is essentially a platform for everyone to show off their abilities. The flashier your moveset, the higher the opportunity that you will get scouted by a pro. It's basically a giant promotional event staged as a festival."

"Okay, and what do you want me to do?" asked Shirou.

"It's not so much what I want you to do, but what you're going to have to do," said Rin as she sat up straight. "They have a tradition where the highest ranking student has to do an opening speech."

"Yeah, what's the problem with that?"

"The problem is that I know you Shirou," stated Rin, her eyes sharpening. "I know that given the chance, you will say something that will irk the entirety of the world to the point where you are the most hated person on the planet."

Shirou remained silent but didn't dismiss the thought that that was a distinct possibility. "So, with your help to ensure it at least sounds like you, we're going to spend the night working you what you're going to say to ensure we don't get lynched down the street."

"We? So you're participating in the event as well," said Shirou picking up the single word used.

"Of course," said Rin as she flicked a lock of hair behind her ear. "I have my own agenda at the moment."

Shirou wasn't even surprised.

...

The following two weeks passed quicker than anybody in class 1-A could have realized. Between classes and the extracurricular training they did with Shirou almost daily after school had finished time seemed to just fly by. To say that the majority had improved would be an outright lie on the surface. None of them could say that they had witnessed improvement in their battles against Shirou but it had all been a good learning experience about the difference between where they were now and what their ultimate goal was.

One thing that the training that they had gone through was surprisingly helpful was that they were no longer afraid of failure. The almost repetitive nature of getting knocked know and then to force themselves to get up and do it again and again was something they hadn't particularly counted on. It was an awkward conundrum for the faculty to find themselves in when during practical sessions the students who took the loss seemed to learn more from how they had failed then from those who succeeded. On a handful of occasions, members of the teaching staff had overheard conversations of how students had felt that they were so close to a breakthrough, if they were a touch faster, a smidgen smarter or even a little more mentally prepared they could last longer. They weren't focused on actually being able to overcome the obstacle in front of them, just to be able to stand in its presence for just a touch longer.

Understandably, this mindset had ruffled a few feathers and one of the teachers had actually marched in and demanded that Shirou stop what it was he was doing. Present Mic had laid down the challenge and Shirou had instructed the class to wait outside while the two of them, 'talked it out like adults.' From outside the building, they had heard the destructive wails that Present Mic could produce for all of twelve seconds before he went silent and a minute afterwards, walked out of the gymnasium, clutching his right arm whilst walking with a noticeable limp and rightfully looking ashamed as he made his way to see Recovery Girl.

Surprisingly, after the encounter with Present Mic, Shirou did alter his training a bit. When a student got knocked down, they had to do twenty push ups before joining the line again. A little change but a change nonetheless.

A small alarm went off in the room where the room that the students of 1-A were gathered in, signalling that it was time. For a few it was at that moment when their nerves started to kick in. However, the first person to move was where all eyes caught on. Shirou stepped out of the room and was swiftly followed by the rest of the class. The walk behind him was more than a little symbolic as they watched him march on without hesitation. They forced themselves to remember that this was their chance, their opportunity to show just what they were capable of in front of an audience. The world knew what Shirou was capable of, now it was their time to show just what they could do.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

**...**

Bakugo growls were inaudible compared to the roar of the crowd that surrounded them. They had gotten the biggest pop which was rightfully given. It didn't matter that Present Mic was upselling their achievements thus far, the masses weren't aware of it but they had come to see them anyways. They were the prized students of the year. Half and Half Bastard, Raccoon Eyes, Shitty Hair, Four Eyes. They might have all been pebbles in his path towards greatness but they had scrambled their way to be standing alongside him above all others who may have tried. They were the best of the worst and they deserved to be acknowledged for that.

Then there was Shirou.

Other than the Half and Half Bastard, he was the only one who hadn't gone to get their ass handed to them over and over by Shirou. That didn't mean that he had been sitting down doing nothing with his time. He'd found himself pushing himself, harder than he ever had before. For years he had been worshipped with the belief of those around him pushing him forwards. Now he realized that he should have been exerting himself harder.

Bakugo knew that he was at the peak of the opportunities he had given himself, of that there was little doubt. The issue was that he hadn't chased up certain opportunities that he wasn't aware existed. Spending his youth bragging about how he was going to be the best when he didn't spend that time working himself to become the best. He knew that the last two weeks of intense training would have only closed the distance a little, but it was a start.

And a start was as good as anything.

...

"Now for the student representative, Emiya Shirou!"

The crowd didn't applaud him as much as they would have any other student and Shirou was more than aware of it. They knew who he was, what he was capable of and he could see those in attendance whispering amongst themselves. Thankfully, he didn't ultimately care about the opinions of the masses but he had a script to follow and he knew that to stray away would lead to more trouble than it was worth.

Stepping up to the podium, his eyes found Rin in the crowd of general studies students. He also had managed to find a small banner in the crowd with her name plastered on it. It seems as if some of the students who had opted not to compete had decided to throw their support behind her, whether from manipulation or her charm he wasn't fussed. She had never had a problem with people showering her with support before so why would it be any different in another world?

Allowing himself to exhale slightly, Shirou recalled what he and Rin had prepared and spoke. "Ladies, Gentlemen, Heroes, Civilians," he started, his words causing all those watching to go silent. He paused for several moments before he announced the final group of people that this speech was meant for, "And Villains."

That single word caused a murmur of discontent to spread around the arena but it didn't phase Shirou as he continued. "We are gathered here before you today to compete against one another for your entertainment. I'm sure you will take joy in children injuring themselves all for the sake of trying to show off what they are capable of. We will throw ourselves against whatever obstacles are in our way and if someone is to maim or perhaps even kill themselves, well that's amusement I guess."

"Those gathered before you are the future heroes of this world and if what I have said has already caused their nerves to come into question then they should forfeit their right to study here effective immediately," declared Shirou. "Grit and determination are a necessity in this line of work and even those who have signed themselves into other courses must be prepared for the consequences of failure. Not every mission is successful and it is never just the one who failed who has to deal with the fallout."

"These burdens are not what teenagers can even begin to comprehend, for the media only ever shows about how the hero valiantly saves the day. Never do we have an in depth look at the psyche, to work out just what is left of the person who spends every day in the limelight knowing that their successes will garner them fame while their failures will have them lynched in the streets. Will we garner success in the future or will we succumb to the wills of society?"

"Finally, I leave you with a final question which I know you all have an answer for. What is a hero? To me, a hero is someone whose name will be etched into legend. History will remember a true hero not for the amount of subordinates under them, or the fact that they spent time with those who adored them. They won't be the most famous or most sought after. The true heroes will be remembered by the fact that they never rescued anyone for the money or glory, but simply because it was the right thing to do."

His final part said, Shirou stepped away from the microphone he had been speaking into and made his way down off of the platform. His footsteps down the handful of stairs almost echoed in comparison to the silence which filled the arena. The words he had spoken resonated with the crowd to the point they were almost afraid to whisper their opinions to those next to them. It was no real surprise that they were quiet. He had poked the hornet's nest in a sense. The civilians of this world felt safe because there was an oversaturation of heroes patrolling the streets and help could arrive within minutes. The sad fact of the matter though, was sometimes those few minutes it took for the hero to arrive already meant that it was too late. Nobody liked to address the issue unless they were pointing fingers about who was to blame and unfortunately the blame wasn't always on the culprit.

"Okay...with that being said," started Midnight, a bit flummoxed by what she had just heard but doing her best to roll on ahead. "It's time to move on to our first event! The preliminaries as they are better known! This year's first round is...this, an Obstacle Course! It's a race between all eleven classes with the course making a nearly four kilometre ring around this stadium! We sing about freedom on campus so you're free to do anything so long as you remain in the course."

Midnight felt herself pause at the end of her statement, preventing her from telling the children to take care. It was something she never would have even contemplated beforehand but Shirou's speech had even sent cold feelings deep down into her soul. She still remembered when she had been a third year student right here in the Academy and was interning under Purple Highness in a lead up to her graduation, how she had worked side by side with a second year student she had called a friend.

And how it had all gone so terribly wrong.

Shaking her head lightly, she focused on the start of the obstacle course where the students had crowded behind one another, cramming as close to the start as they could. As the first light flashed on, she called out, "On your marks!"

...

"Start!"

The opening of the event saw those at the back of the pack watch on with mild entertainment as those at the front tried their hardest to squeeze through the narrow opening. This was where Shirou and Rin had found themselves, in no real rush to force their way to the front of the crowd. It was unsurprising for Shirou to find that a number of his peers had chosen the same course of action. Apparently a number of them had learned in the last couple weeks not to charge ahead without a plan.

At least they were taking something from his lessons.

Their patience was well rewarded with Todoroki having taken the lead and in doing so, freezing the field beneath him and trapping those who had thought to get an early start. Those who found themselves lucky enough to not have their feet stuck to the ground had to suffer the humility that came with falling face first into the ground, their footing ill prepared for the change in surface friction.

"So that was the opening act," said Rin as she leapt up, far higher than anybody had the right to and landed gracefully atop the starting gate, Shirou joining her side only a moment later. They paid little attention to the masses that were sandwiched beneath them, scrambling over one another in an attempt to get a step ahead of the rest.

"It was the simplest way to weed out those ill prepared, Midnight stated anything was far game," added Shirou. "If they fall at the first hurdle that just shows where they are." Shirou's attention shifted slightly to where his peers from Class 1-A were making their way forward, following after Todorok and towards the next obstacle. "Oh it's those things again."

By 'those things,' Shirou was referring to the gigantic machines that stood in the path of those who had gotten to the front of the pack. Shirou's ears perked up, hearing one student cry out that there were way too many to slip past. That to him sounded like a good warm up, certainly not a challenge but it would provide some entertainment.

...

Todoroki stared at the second obstacle and the drop that surrounded the handful of safe platforms. The rope that hung between the few havens differed greatly from spot to spot, meaning he would have to pick and choose which paths he took carefully.

"Well, that was easy," said a female voice behind him, Todoroki mildly surprised thinking that he had had quite a large gap between him and the rest of the field. Turning to look over his shoulder, Todoroki spotted Shirou accopaning said female, one whom he could mildly recall having fought alongside Shirou some time ago.

"So what's next?" asked Shirou as he came to stand by Todoroki's side, no sign that he was in anyway exhausted from having caught up to the lead with seeming ease. Not that Todoroki found this surprising in the slightest.

"Hmmph," scoffed Rin, ignoring the sounds of explosions and disaster raining on behind her as the rest of their year level did their best to make their way through the robot inferno. Without a second thought, she leapt forward, the abyss not terrifying her in the slightest. At first glance, Todoroki thought such reckless actions would lead to disaster and was already preparing some way in which to catch the general studies student.

His fear filled thoughts were unwarranted however, Rin crossing the gap with the simplest of ease, landing before leaping once more in a fluid motion, crossing the darkness without any fear for what lay beneath her. Before Todorki could even allow some manner of surprise to seep in, he could only watch as Shirou crossed the gap without hesitation though taking a slightly different path to the one that his companion was taking.

A momentary thought of panic came into Todoroki's mind as he questioned whether the sword crafting student would sabotage those behind them and cut the ropes connecting the platforms together. Thankfully it seemed as if fears were misplaced, Shirou seeming to have no need to destroy the hopes of those behind him.

Biting at the inside of his lip, Todoroki realized that he had spent far too long simply staring at the obstacle in front of him and began to press forward. Humorously he wondered if Endeavour was having an aneurysm watching him get so easily overtaken.

...

"First place goes to Tohsaka Rin from the general studies department, closely followed by Emiya Shirou in second place, the two having completed the third obstacle while many are still struggling their way through the second! They really are showing the difference in strength here."

Present Mic's commentary caused many of the students outside of 1-A to panic slightly the realization that two of the coveted spots were already claimed. For those who studied alongside Shirou, they simply weren't surprised by this outcome in the slightest and simply chose to press on.

Midoriya clung onto the rope he was traversing tightly, the large chunk of scrap metal he had claimed from the first obstacle hanging from his back and weighing him down as if trying to drag him to the depths below. In his mind he could still recall the lecture that All Might had given him, about how this was his chance to show the world that he was here. He didn't quite know how he was going to do so at this stage but he knew that if an opportunity came his way he would have to take it.

He struggled to pull himself up to the platform he had just made it to and on his hands and knees was able to see that he still needed to cross two more gaps to make it to the finish of this obstacle. Judging from the number of people in front and behind him, Midoriya made the deduction that he was roughly midfield which considering he had yet to make use of his quirk wasn't a terrible spot to be in.

A familiar scream nearby however caught his attention.

He couldn't help but look as Ochako's balance faltered and she fell, her fingers swiftly pressing against each other to slow her descent considerably. She would float there and rise a touch but chances were that she would be unable to reach the rope she had fallen off. Midoriya knew that she couldn't maintain her composure long without getting nauseous and falling however further down into the darkness the pit stretched. While it might have been completely safe with a net or something similar prepared to catch a falling student, Midoriya didn't see it that way, he saw someone in danger.

His mind raced as he took the large chunk of scrap metal off of his back and using the wiring that had the steel hanging from his back to tie the metal on to his feet. Pushing himself to a standing position, Midoriya looked at the rope before him and the falling figure of Ochako who was visibly starting to get a bit queasy.

Then he leapt.

Miroriya allowed no fear to spring into his mind as his hands gripped onto the former balancing device and thrust his feet downwards as hard as he could, the metal connected to him shearing through the rope with ease. He fell, his grip on the rope solid as his eyes focused on the objective ahead. "Grab on!" he shouted, his voice reaching Ochako who saw the rope coming her way.

She released her quirk with precision timing, grabbing onto the rope that was swinging at her and allowed the motion to push her towards the nearby pillar. Down the bottom of the rope, Midoriya had awaited this moment as he angled his legs and drove the sharp edge of the metal sheet straight into the pillar, creating a platform for him to stand on. His motion forced him to bounce off the wall quite painfully but he focused instead on the form of Ochako above him, the girl having managed to keep her grip on the rope.

Seeing that Midoriya was standing beneath her, Ochako began the slow descent down, climbing down one hand after the other step by step. The rest of the competition seemed to just go by without noticing the development going on beneath them. It didn't take too long before Ochako found the safety of Midoriya's arms, the boy freezing momentarily at the fact that there was a girl in his arms before focusing on what was needed.

"A...A...Are you okay?" he asked, stuttering slightly.

"Yes, thank you," said Ochako, slightly unnerved that despite being so far down the pillar she still couldn't see the bottom beneath her. "You didn't have to save me."

"No, I did, it was the right thing to do," said Midoriya realizing that while he may have blown his chances at making it through the obstacle course he had made the right choice overall. Shirou's words from earlier rang through his mind at that moment as he wondered how many professional heroes would have done the same thing if they had seen the situation he had.

Ochako meanwhile was mildly panicking, wondering why she had opted to climb down the rope as to why she had chosen to go down as opposed to climb upwards and give herself a chance of victory. Even if she was to secure a spot however, she felt that she wouldn't have deserved it after having been saved by someone who was unable to make it to the end themselves.

Midoriya meanwhile was making plans. Utilizing One for All, he could easily throw Ochako towards the end of the second obstacle and allow the girl a chance to continue. He couldn't use the full strength he was capable of, such power would send the student flying out of the stadium. No, he'd have to use a portion of his strength, the tiniest amount which would send Ochako in the right direction at a speed which she could float herself to safety.

"How's your stomach?" he asked of the girl in his arms, a situation that was still causing his body temperature to rise.

"A little queasy but nothing I haven't been able to handle before," admitted Ochako. "What do you have in mind?"

"I'm going to throw you up there," declared Midoriya. "I'll need you optimizing your quirk to adjust your landing but you can make it."

"Midoriya," said Ochako softly, finding it hard to believe that even in this situation the boy holding her was still trying to find a way to help her. Before he could start telling her what to do, she stopped him before he started his spiel. "Don't. Too much time has passed, I won't make it in."

"You could still..."

"Deku," she said, using the name he had given her permission to use. "Let's just wait here, okay?"

Midoriya blinked several times as he wondered why Ochako opted not to continue but chose to simply nod in acceptance. If she simply wanted to wait out the rest of the time here in his arms then...then...

The darkness covered the shade of red his face went.

...

All Might watched on, awaiting the next portion of what was to happen. Midoriya's brave efforts had likely gone unnoticed by a majority of the people in attendance but his actions would not have gone unseen by those that counted. Many of the audience were members of the hero community who were scouting for potential students to put under internship. While the first year student who came through the tournament in the top position was always the one that garnered the most attention, professionals were always looking for something they could work with.

To ignore the objective to save a single life, it was admirable and something that would be taken into consideration for sure. Though not once during the showing had Midoriya utilized his quirk. Whether this would work in his benefit or not was difficult to say as he hadn't technically shown anything other than his determination to help those in need. He wouldn't get many proposals but there would undoubtedly be some who saw the potential.

It wasn't technically the way for him to announce that he was here, but it was still a way nonetheless.

...

"The forty two at the top have earned the right to advance!" announced Midnight, the names of those who had made their way into the second obstacle being displayed on the screen behind her.

"Forty two seems such an odd number," said Rin as Midnight continued her spiel.

"I don't know how many students are in our year throughout the classes, perhaps it is divisible by forty two," said Shirou offering an answer to the unspoken question.

"As improbable as it sounds, you might be onto something," said Rin casually as Midnight accounced the next conquest to be a cavalry battle. "Don't you think for a second that I'm carrying you."

"Wouldn't dream about it," chuckled Shirou as he momentarily scoped the rest of the competition. As entertaining as it would be to have Rin sitting atop his shoulders for the entirety of the bout, there was a chance that she would fall from up there and the two of them would be disqualified. So he needed to find someone willing to join them that wouldn't slow them down.

"With the exception of first place whose head is worth TEN MILLION POINTS!" exclaimed MIdnight, upselling just how valuable the leading position was. Along with how much of a subsequent target it now was.

"What!" shouted Rin in shock as all eyes turned to her.

Shirou meanwhile chuckled at the turn of events and now had to try and figure out who would be willing to join their team with the fact that everyone else would be hunting them down.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

**...**

Jiro swallowed nervously as she approached the trio in front of her, her invisible classmate having already approached the top two of the obstacle course, unphased by the fact that would result in her being on the most targeted team. Recalling how Hagakure had acted when she had been partnered with Shirou for their first Battle training assignment and how starstruck she was at that moment, the possibility of working alongside both him and Rin likely overpowered anything else.

As for her, she had to consider the best options for getting through to the third round. With forty two students having made it through this far, she knew those of her peers in 1-A would stay clear from Shirou. Day after day of being tossed around had likely ingrained into their brains to stay well clear from him if they wanted to make it through. Likely with the exception of the two that had chosen to not join them day after day but they would have to convince their team members to throw their chances of proceeding down the drain.

As for her, she had to consider what she could offer the two who were going to be targeted by all those from the other classes who had no idea of what facing Shirou was like. While the jacks hanging from her ears could be utilized as a ranged weapon, there was no way that she could use them to grab the points off of other teams.

She shook her head from side to side before lightly slapping at her cheeks. She knew she could help, somehow when the moment arrived she would know what to do. She didn't spend time after time just getting knocked to the ground to learn nothing from it. If she had figured anything out during those difficult times it was that you had to act the moment an opportunity came.

Jiro figured that if Hagakure was going to be able to convince her to join them then she should have no issue.

...

Todoroki looked at those who stood by his side. His team was well built, with both offensive and defensive capabilities to help ensure that they made it through to the next round. As he tied the headband that contained their collective points atop his brow, backwards so that the point totals weren't visible, he scanned the competition.

Safe to say that he hadn't done much in the way of making connections in his class. He was a cold character, no pun intended, and as such didn't make much of an effort in engaging with his peers outside of lessons. He was more than aware though that those who would serve as his chariot would likely not wish to engage with the team which contained Shirou.

Yaoyorozu, Kaminari and Iida all engaged with the weapons crafter regularly after class and as such would be more than hesitant to combat against him in the upcoming battle. He could understand that and as such would not be spurring his team in that direction, as tempting as the million plus points were. His team would appreciate that but also he himself had a reason to do so.

Emiya Shirou was by far the biggest name in the competition, the person who everyone in the audience would be paying attention to. Including his father. As such, were he able to take him down using only the power of his cold side, it would be a successful attack against his old man. Hence, he wouldn't be challenging Shirou just yet.

After all, the finale was yet to come.

...

Shirou adjusted his grip ever so slightly at the front of the trio supporting Rin. Hagakure he was pretty sure just wanted to join them because she semi idol worshipped him and adding Rin to the mix had nearly blown her mind into overload. Watching Rin's reaction to the rabid fangirl had been enough to cause him to chuckle lightly.

Two others had approached them shortly afterwards, one whose real objective had been plain and obvious to see. He hadn't minded the go getting attitude Hatsume had, the sole member of the support class to make it through to this point in the competition, but it was clear that she wanted to simply use the attention that would be centred on them for her own benefit.

Taking Jiro over her had been an easy option.

The countdown began and Shirou lazily rolled his neck to the side, several vertebrae popping as a result. "That's disgusting," commented Rin from above him.

Shirou paid it little attention as Midnight bellowed out for the competition to begin. His sharp eyes scanned the nearest threats, essentially those who didn't know what he was capable of first hand. As the first group approached, Shirou watched warily as the ground surrounding them begin to shift in density, causing the three of them supporting Rin to slowly sink.

"Don't struggle," he ordered, knowing that with most traps like this the more you panicked the more likely you were to make a mistake. Their mistake was charging head forward at an enemy who was more than happy to pick them off from a range when they were charging straight forward.

The Gandr shot that Rin unleashed, struck the lead member of the B team's cavaly squad square in the chest. Shirou had had more than enough experience with being struck with said attacks over the years to know that the result effectively meant that that team member would no longer be able to play a part in the rest of the event. This also meant that his quirk deactivated, the soft ground that they had been sinking into becoming solid once more, with their feet firmly planted beneath the surface.

"If you would be so kind Jiro," said Shirou, not bothering to look back as he kept his eyes forward.

"Right," said Jiro as her earjacks drove into the ground beneath her before she sent out her heartbeat vibrations. Three times it was necessary before the ground beneath them began to respond, cracking ever so slightly at the intense jarring. With the first cracks being developed, Shirou ripped his feet out of the ground one by one, the consequential damage allowing Hagakure and Jiro to step out of the floor as well.

"Have you got any targets in mind? Or do you want to stay on the defence?" Shirou asked of his team.

"The other kid from my class, Shinso, leave him be," stated Rin boldly. "He has a statement to make in this tournament that has my approval."

"Any chance that he and his team will approach us?" asked Hagakure.

"No, he already knows not to mess with me," said Rin recalling how the general studies student had already tried to get her to talk in the past. While his quirk was impressive, she had encountered far worse in the past and had crafted defences for such tactics, tactics which had rendered Shinso's quirk effective for only a handful of moments.

"So defence then?" said Jiro.

"Defence," confirmed Shiro.

...

Uraraka watched from the stands, shouting out her support for her fellow class members. Beside her was Midoriya but he had entered his zone, pencil and pad in front of him as he jotted down points on nearly everybody who was competing at this moment in time. It would be almost adorable however the never ending incoherent jumble of words the leaked out of his mouth was downright terrifying.

Still though, she was saddened by the fact that she had been the one to ultimately cause him to fail. She had found herself rushing to make her way through the obstacle course, so much so that she had lost her footing resulting in her sitting here compared to competing out there. The strange thing was though, that she wasn't sure why she had found herself competing almost against herself, as if she had something to prove. She knew that she had had to come at least within the top ten, just making it in just wouldn't have been enough.

The real question at the end of the day was that she didn't know where this determination to prove herself had come from. Her quirk was ill suited for a race of that nature unless she had been determined to make herself completely sick and incapable of competing in the following events. Even when going with her classmates to compete against the juggernaut that was Shirou, her hand to hand abilities were miserable. Most enemies all she would need to do was to touch them and let her quirk make them float to a position where they were no longer capable of fighting. Since Shirou could simply summon a bow to his side, that tactic was completely invalid.

Not that she had ever gotten remotely close to being able to utilize her quirk against him.

Was that why she was pushing herself harder? To show that she wasn't simply a background character?

Shaking her head from side to side, Uraraka focused on the contest happening beneath her. She would contemplate her own shortcomings later on. For now she wished to give her all in supporting her friends.

...

Ryoku watched the cavalry battle with the interest she assumed many of the professional heroes had, though she herself was watching from the comfort of her living room as opposed to being with her peers. A lot of people would have assumed that she would have been paying rapt attention to the third year students in order to support her intern. Her choice of viewing however was centred around the first year students and how they were progressing through the cavalry battle they had found themselves in.

The idea that they had to make up a team on the fly, trying to negotiate quirks combinations that would compliment one another was something she wasn't surprised to see. UA always seemed to have a way of trying different things while following something of a formula. The first test was also to weed out the majority and then the second forced those who often found themselves without close friends and allies trying to make something out of those around them.

She had found little surprise that instead of staying away from those who would likely be targeted, the two students whom had her interest had found no issue with people approaching them. They had even had enough students approach so that they could turn some away, which was saying something about their level of charisma along with their reputation and strength.

What she couldn't understand about the team layout however was why Emiya Shirou had opted to take the frontal position as opposed to sitting on top. He was a weapons crafter and being unable to utilize his hands by having to carry the woman atop reduced his combat ability severely.

Which from listening to Nejire, Shirou's combat skills had been enough to even push her intangible teammate into something of a stalemate. Luring him into traps, striking his vulnerable points and even destroying the landscape they were standing on during the bout were more than impressive feats and all strategically sound. Sadly it also sounded as if Shirou was deliberately going out of his way to show Nejire's close friend his weaknesses as opposed to trying to end the fight.

This kid had the potential to go all the way.

So why was she so wary of him?

She still recalled sitting in the penthouse that Rin and Shirou had shared, one which Midnight of all people had invited her to. The verbal sparring between Rin and the R rated Hero was still something that caused her to chuckle from time to time but the read stand out point of the evening was when Shirou had returned from having been abducted by the League of Villains. The very same group which had recently launched an assault of UA itself.

Understandably when he had arrived and said those words there had been a moment of shock and horror that resonated throughout the room. At least the panic had been shared by the three heroes who had taken the situation in a professional manner. Rin had been so nonchalant about the whole thing. Then Shirou himself, describing to them and the officials how he had been kidnapped and subsequently got away unscathed, his lack of emotion at first had been seen as him being in a sense of shock.

Now she knew it was something different.

He had been bored.

He had rolled out the details of his kidnapping as if they were dot points in a business meeting, as if they were simply facts that had no outcome to his health and wellbeing. Rin as well, as carefree as she had been when chatting with the three professional heroes, had shown no sympathy for what should have been a terrifying ordeal. It wasn't as if they could have expected such a circumstance to happen and something of that nature should have scared them to some manner of degree.

It had meant nothing.

She didn't know what it was but these two teenagers were not governed by any rational thought process that could be remotely seen as normal. In this competition, they had breezed through the first round as if it was nothing, which while it wasn't surprising, they had shown no joy in their accomplishment. No happiness in their success of being at the top of their grade. Even now, with only a handful of minutes left and a number of groups out of commission thanks to the orbs that Rin shot from her fingers, they simply looked content with their position.

They just didn't care and the main issue she feared for, was what if they did find something to care for. Someone of a villainous nature offered them something that actually gave them some manner of excitement or joy. To potentially give them a desire to actually push themselves, take something seriously as opposed to simply remaining forever neutral in their reactions. Heroes in the past had fallen to corruption though the government did their best to announce such happenings as 'extreme circumstances' to not put fear into the general public. If professional heroes could fall into villany for whatever reason, it was very possible to think that a couple of teenagers could be persuaded to fall down that dark line of thinking.

She didn't know what could persuade those two to fall into such a life, but if they were she didn't know who would be able to stop them if they found something worth getting serious over.

...

"They seemed to have learnt their lesson, haven't they," said Jiro in a bored tone, her feet still remaining incredibly close to where they had started the game. Four groups had attempted to take their points and all four groups were currently incpacitated, those who hadn't been struck by Rin's attacks doing their best to try and spur their friends on for the final couple of minutes. The only time they had moved was to collect the headbands of the fallen groups before returning to their starting spot to await the next group.

"I thought teaming with you two would have been waaaaay more exciting," declared Hagakure.

"Efficiency does not necessarily equal entertaining," said Shirou from the front of the trio holding up Rin. "You could be using this time to analyze the people who you're going to fight in the next round."

"Wait, the next round is going to be students fighting against each other?" asked Hagakure, shocked at how Shirou could possibly know such a thing.

"It's common sense really," said Rin, her chin resting in her palm as she waited to see if anybody else was stupid enough to come near them. "You don't go through this entire thing of weeding out the competition and not have some tournament or battle royale to work out who the number one is at the end of the day."

"Number one," repeated Jiro as she looked up at the form she was carrying to the male body standing only a couple feet in front of her. Her whole class knew just who the number one was amongst them, they had felt his power on more occasions than many would assume necessary. At no time however had he ever fought them with all the strength that he had at his disposal. Not once had he used the same strength to crush the gymnasium floor or moved so fast that their eyes struggled to keep up with him.

She didn't know why, but she wanted him to go all out, show them everything that he had to offer. To take off the kiddie gloves and prove just how strong he was. There were only a handful of people that she could think of that could potentially cause him to take a fight seriously, one of which currently sat above them. Jiro knew the two of them had fought side by side before. The two of them combatting one another on an open playing field?

That was something she knew everyone would want to see.

"Now, pay attention to what is happening around you," declared Shirou, snapping Shirou and Hagakure into attention. "Analyze, learn and understand those who you may come against."

It was a simple enough instruction but one that Jiro could see that it was things like that which she could have been doing instead of standing there only bracing to defend from an assault. She took this as an opportunity to see a bit of the insight as to what Shirou was seeing. Not only had he been prepared to defend against any oncoming assault, but he was scouting all threats. True he had seen what most of their class was capable of, but they made up less than half of those still competing. He was working out what everyone was capable of, how to counter any unexpected threats. Not once since this competition started had he taken a single moment easy, choosing to spend his entire time mentally crafting ways to take down everybody that came at him with the highest chance of taking no damage.

Was this what it was like to be on the level of the professionals? Was she overthinking things, or worse, underthinking? Even looking beyond those who had assaulted them and still immobile, half the surface was frozen with a number of teams being rendered immobile by Todoroki utilizing his ice. Bakugou was currently leaping through the air at a team from Class 1-B only to collide with an invisible platform.

All these things happening right in front of her that she had paid minimal attention to because it didn't affect her directly. This all was a lesson going on right now and she had only taken in enough to get a passing grade, if that. She needed to learn from this, all of this and take it with her from here on out.

...

"Time's Up!" bellowed Present Mic, his voice carrying over the stadium. "Now to see who our top four teams are. Sitting in first place is Team Tohsaka who seemed to have gotten through way too easily if you ask me. Second place is Team Todoroki, followed by Team Bakugou. Rounding off the top four is...Team Shinsou? When did they get up so high? Anyways, those four teams are those moving through to the final round! The event will take place after an hour's lunch break."

"So Shinsou huh, he's the one you wanted to get through?" Shirou asked of Rin as many of those around them questioned how they had failed to make it through to the final room. For some they were finally able to get medical assistance from having been able to nothing but clutch at their stomach and struggle to crawl out of harm's way.

"It will be much more beneficial for him if the next round is a collection of one on one battles," said Rin as she threw her hair behind her shoulder. "I'm going to assume you've picked up the confused looks of those he worked with."

"Yeah, he controlled them somehow didn't they, they probably weren't even aware that they'd gotten through until it was over," said Shirou as he stretched his hands over his head. "Still, they made it through and if they felt like they didn't get a chance to show off before they get the chance now."

"Yo, Shirou, you coming to get some grub?" asked Kirishima from nearby who was standing nearby with some of the other members of their class.

"Look at you getting all chummy," said Rin, gently nudging Shirou's shoulder playfully.

"Yeah, yeah," said Shirou as he took a step forward only to find one of the other members of Class 1-A had stepped towards him. "Can I help you Ojiro?"

"Can we have a word, in private?" asked the teenager who brandished the overly large tail. Seeing no reason against it, Shirou gestured for Ojiro to follow him, the two of them moving away from the main group in order to get a bit of privacy. Rin chose to simply follow Shirou's classmates not so much for the lunch, but to see if they had anything to say about him.

...

"From four teams, sixteen individuals have made it through to the final round for the tournament!" shouted Present Mic, pausing momentarily to let the applause slow down just the barest of margins before continuing. "We're pitting them against one another in one on one combat! The bracket has been selected at random and we will have the recreational events occur first to allow our combatants time to prepare for their first bout!"

Shiro couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, not believing those words for a second. Out of everyone he could have been put up against, he was scheduled to fight Rin in the opening bout.

"Random my ass."

...

**Hope you enjoyed**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

**...**

To say there was unease for those scheduled to fight was an understatement. Not so mostly because of the people they themselves were scheduled to fight, but rather that they would have to go on after the top two engaged one another in what they felt would be a spectacle like nothing else. For many, they felt as if this would be something on the level of watching a couple of the top twenty professional heroes go at it and this was the only time they would get the chance to witness such an event.

Ojiro sat in the waiting room, fully knowing that his bout would be the first to follow and considering that the winner between him and Aoyama was set to fight against the winner of Shirou and Rin, the chances were almost impossible. It was sad that he was partially hoping for the two of them to do so much damage to one another that it would be possible for him to potentially put up a decent contest against the winner. Provided he got past Aoyama and his naval laser in the first place. In theory he just needed to outlast him until he reached his limit, dodge everything that his classmate threw at him but sadly that wouldn't exactly provide a standout performance, and considering what he had discussed with Shirou beforehand, he needed to stand out.

Ojiro had been toying with the idea to pull out, to withdraw from the competition due to him not exactly recalling how it was he made it this far. He didn't know why he had asked Shirou for advice in the situation but had considered the possibility that if anyone could give him some answers, it would be him. Turns out he had quite a bit to say on the matter. Shirou told him that even if he didn't remember doing it, he had still played his part in the contest and as such had reached the objective. Shirou told him that there was a possibility at times where, if he were to be part of a joint venture, he would be unaware of what everyone else was doing and that his own goal would only serve to help the group as a whole. In the present and now though, even if he didn't feel like he deserved to stand on this stage, Shirou had told him that his teammates in the previous event had helped him get here. As such, he had just as much right as anyone else in the back to be where he was now.

While it left an awkward taste in his mouth, Ojiro couldn't fault Shirou's reasoning. It was why he was still where he was. He would go into the bout with Aoyama with everything he had at his disposal, ignoring the safe way to victory in exchange for the chance to show off what it was that he could do. For if not now, when would he get another chance to stand in a similar position.

...

Bakugo ground his teeth together as he ignored the events being played on the tv. Here he was, in the top sixteen of the school but it wasn't enough. He wanted to be ranked higher! To be seen as the elite that he was.

Unfortunately, fighting against raccoon eyes and her acid would not give him the true chance to truly show the world what he was capable of. To do that, he would have to go against him later on, which judging by the bracket, meant he would fight him in the semi finals. Win or lose, that was where he would get the greatest chance to prove himself.

Then the final would likely be against the half and half bastard. The hot and cold teenager would be competing with the vice president of their class, the girl who made stuff from her body. She was the same as him in that she had gotten through via recommendations.

Not that it mattered. Half and half would crush her before she could make anything worthwhile. He only wished that he had a higher chance of confronting the hot and cold shithead himself.

Still though, he would make a statement. He hadn't been training for nothing after all.

...

Midoriya returned to his seat, after having competed in the events that were held to give those competing time to devise strategies. On his lap, he had his notebook and pencil already prepped and ready for action.

He knew that the first bout itself would be something amazing to witness but he had to get some sort of intel for future use. All Might had requested of him to prove himself and he had failed to do that. It wouldn't be the only chance he had to show that he was here however. Both second and third year students were currently competing as well and he would get the chance to do just that a year from now.

For now, he had to use his knowledge and information gathering skills to his advantage.

Shirou vs Rin was just the first match he was going to monitor. He had no intention of missing out on a single moment.

Would Ashido find someway to be able to compete against Kaa-chan?

Could Ojiro find a way to close the distance in his battle against Aoyama?

Would Iida underestimate his opponent just because he was in the general studies department?

Those questions didn't even cover half of the bouts in the first round and then there would be match after match after that. He needed to know what everyone was capable of, and just see how great the distance between him and the top of his peers truly was. Despite having one of the greatest quirks in the world, he sincerely doubted that in singles action against anyone down there he would come out victorious.

He still needed to learn how to properly control One for All. At this stage, throwing himself against Shirou time and time again had helped him learn that he didn't even have a base fighting style to work with. All Might rescued people with a single punch, but said punch still had to land.

Midoriya's thoughts were shattered as Present Mic's voice rang out, announcing that the first bout was going to commence. Here, Midoriya was going to learn and study something which many would never even consider.

Did Shirou have a weakness known by his long term friend, and if so, would she use it to walk away victorious?

...

Shirou paid little attention to the applause give to him and Rin as the two of them stepped atop the platform that they would compete in. He could guess the list of rules that were going to be announced, this wasn't exactly his first time competing in some form of tournament after all, though thankfully this time it wouldn't end in too much bloodshed. As he and Rin finished only a dozen metres apart from each other, Shirou spoke up. "You know we could really piss them off by simply standing here and waiting out the fifteen minutes doing absolutely nothing."

"True, but I'd rather not be known as the woman who threw away the tournament," said Rin with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Oh, you think you're going to win?" said Shirou in a condescending tone. In the background, they could hear Midnight commence the match but neither of them paid too much attention to it.

"Please, we both know that the chances of me winning are minimal," said Rin. "If I go all out, catch you by surprise I might be able to give myself an opening but I rather not show these people what I'm actually capable of."

"So what, you're just going to forfeit," said Shirou, coming to the conclusion.

"Eventually, but you're going to have to make me," said Rin, placing a single hand on her hip.

"Make you huh," repeated Shirou before closing his eyes, anticipating what it was that Rin truly was trying to accomplish right now. Shirou knew that Rin always had a plan in place, even if he wasn't really sure what said plan was or how she intended to enact it. She wanted him to do something here in front of all these people, and whether or not it was in this round or the next few towards the title he wasn't certain.

He knew that Rin had been controlling things for a while now, as soon as she had discovered what this world was capable of she had been using it to her advantage. Shirou was observant, frighteningly so. He had deciding that interfering with whatever it was that Rin was working towards would only turn on him in the long run. It was just part of the game that she played.

The main problem with her game though was that she was still playing by the same set of rules that had governed them for over half a century. Rules that had harsh penalties attached to them. She seemed to forget that they weren't being watched over meticulously by Clock Tower, that their skills and abilities could be used in the open and even if they weren't a quirk they just had to say it was. It was the wonders of being in a world where nearly everybody was born with a remarkable power at their disposal.

Rin though still didn't see it that way. She was planning and plotting something involving him since before they had gotten caught all those months prior. Even in the police station, he could have thought of a number of ways that Rin could have gotten them out of that cell that didn't involve destroying one of the surrounding walls. Yet that had been the option that she had told him to do. It was all part of the game she was playing with him and the world around them as her pieces.

If she wanted to play games though, he could play just as fairly, or unfairly in this case. It was time to throw in something that she couldn't possibly have planned on.

He could hear the crowd in the background starting to get riled up, the lack of action for the first couple minutes of the match clearly grating on their nerves. Even Present Mic on the commentary was demanding some sort of action to take place. He pushed all of that out of his mind, focusing solely on his breathing as he lifted up his right hand so that his palm was facing Rin.

"_I Am The Bone Of My Sword."_

While those in the audience may not have been able to hear what had been said, they could certainly feel it as a wave of something indescribable washed over them. For Shirou's peers in Class 1-A, they could immediately feel a change in the atmosphere which informed them that they were about to see something spectacular.

Rin meanwhile couldn't help the shocked look that crossed her face. She had expected Shirou to do something outlandish but this...THIS! Bringing out one noble phantasm in front of this crowd would have likely been more than enough but to try and do this! She hoped that it was all some elaborate bluff, a part of the game they were playing and he had played the biggest piece he could find to try and get her to forfeit.

It was a bluff, it had to be.

"_Steel Is My Body and Fire Is My Blood."_

Another pulse of magical energy surged throughout the arena and Rin couldn't help but feel like she had misjudged the level of stupidity that Shirou had at his disposal. To go and use his trump card in a televised match where everyone across the country could watch, just what was he thinking.

"_I Have Created Over a Thousand Blades."_

Rin unleashed a Gandr shot, the bright red bullet surging forward only to collide against a blade that forged in the path of her trajectory before it pierced into the stone below. It was then that a daunting thought crossed her path.

Shirou was serious.

"I forfeit!" she yelled out, doing her best to attract the attention of Midnight who was standing at the edge of the stage. The professional hero however didn't seem to acknowledge Rin the first time, forcing the magus to call out a second time and managing to get her attention this time.

"Winner by forfeit, Shirou!" shouted Midnight. With the announcement made, Shirou allowed his powers to subside and the pressure around the stadium lifted. It was then that those in the audience seemed to notice what the surges had caused. For the civilians, many of them had remained seated more so out of confusion than anything else. The urgent feeling to flee had welled up within their bodies but the curiosity as to what would happen before them had kept them rooted to their seats.

As for the heroes, that was another story entirely.

A good number of the professional heroes had found themselves tensed, some even standing up from their seats. A few had been prepared to stop whatever unspeakable force it was that Shirou was prepared to unleash while the majority were ready to protect the citizens and help evacuate where necessary. These people had encountered villains as part of their profession, but none of them had ever felt as threatened as they had just then.

Having been as close to the source of the power as she had been, Midnight had found herself shivering where she had stood, almost oblivious to the world around her. She had been so focused on what was happening before her that she had barely been able to hear Rin's cry of forfeit, one which she announced out of desperation in order to get Shirou to stop. His quirk was to craft weapons, ones that he had seen before if the reports from Aizawa were correct. That begged a simple question.

What was he trying to craft?

...

To say that Midoriya was shocked would be an understatement. He didn't even know how he still had some sentiment of a grip on his writing utensil. Beside him, Ochako was still, almost deathly so. Both of them had watched with bated breath only to have been confronted by that...whatever that was.

Now that he had something resembling an actual thought process cross through his mind, Midoriya had to try and come up with a single answer to the conundrum he now faced.

Why?

He recalled how when they had been pushing Shirou to train them he had specifically made mention that he would not hold back. For all intents and purposes, considering none could last even ten seconds against him, they thought it to be true. Yet he had been holding back...that! Was it his secret move? A special weapon that could only be used once? Since he had struggled to move from this distance, would he have been able to do anything if he had been closer? Could he have even be able to keep conscious in front of such raw strength?

Midoriya found himself looking down at his hand and how it had yet to start shaking. He held one of the most powerful quirks in existence, gifted to him by All Might himself. Yet never before had he seen the number one hero exert that kind of pressure before. Not to say that he wasn't capable of it, were All Might to unleash all of his power it would be astronomical in force and Midoriya was thankful that there wasn't an opponent around that could push him to that limit.

With that in mind though, could he exert that kind of power? All Might had stated that at the moment he could achieve five percent of his power and that was still enough to break bones if he had a lapse in concentration or simply used it improperly. A little over a year ago, it had practically been impossible for him to become a hero and he was merely chasing a dream. The All Might had appeared in his life and now he actually had a chance of accomplishing said dream.

Right there, in the arena, that was the goal line. Not to beat Shirou, that still seemed like an impossible task and only more so after that display. No, what he needed to achieve was the level of commitment the heroes in the stands had been able to accomplish despite the waves of power flowing over them. The true heroes had been ready to help those around them, while he had sat frozen in his seat for what very well could have been an eternity, waiting for the pressure to end.

If anything, that was as good a stepping stone as any on making his way towards becoming a hero.

...

Ojiro felt like smashing his head against the wall. He really did. The tailed student knew that he would have to follow Shirou, the man whom he had yet to land a single hit on. He had expected to be able to put on a performance against Aoyoma that would be able to showcase what he was capable of. He had expected Shirou and Rin to put on some sort of physical display that would showcase their brilliance and technical prowess, but how could he follow that?

Shirou had won, by simply exerting his power. Not a single attack had been thrown by him. He had made his friend forfeit without even moving from his starting position. What it was he was trying to do, Rin knew what it was and had chosen to forfeit rather than face whatever it was that he was attempting.

Now he had to go out and try and entertain the crowd. He knew what they would only be paying him the barest attention however, likely using their time to whisper to one another, discuss what they had just witnessed or more importantly, felt. Only those who were looking for a specific intern and saw some sort of potential in him and his quirk would be watching wholeheartedly.

If that was all that would be properly paying attention, then that was the group of people he would direct this fight towards. Every hero was different after all. Some had visually stunning quirks while others had simple quirks which barely made them different from everyday civilians. At the end of the day however, whether their quirk was flashy or not, they were still heroes, those who put their lives on the line to save others.

Ojiro knew that his tail was an extension of himself, an extra limb that he could use to fight with if necessary. Was it something stunning that would draw attention away from other heroes and on to himself? No. That didn't mean that he couldn't do just as good a job, if not better than other heroes in the field!

With newfound determination filling his being, Ojiro's eyes sharpened as he looked down the corridor leading to the arena where he would face off against his classmate. Before he had been looking forward to simply showing off his abilities. Now he had a true reason to win and show that a more mundane quirk could win against something fancier. Aoyama's naval laser was indeed something fancy, and he was going to show everyone that it could be bested by a tail.

...

**Hope you enjoyed**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

**...**

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" repeated Rin, over and over again as she continued to beat Shirou over the head with a pillow that she had found. Shirou meanwhile barely found the contact distracting as it belted over his crown time after time as he sat down at the table and focused on the small television that was in the waiting room. On the screen, Ojiro was successfully closing the distance between himself and Aoyama, the laser wielding student beginning to panic at the thought of the battle going into close combat.

That would be something that Shirou focused on when next the two of them came face to face.

"Just what were you thinking you idiot!" shouted Rin, charging the pillow with enough magical power that when she next connected with Shirou's head, the resulting blow nearly sent his forehead careening into the table. Shirou did manage to barely prevent himself from suffering more damage before calmly exhaling, sitting upright once more before turning to look at Rin.

"If you'll calm down, I'll tell you exactly what I'm thinking," said Shirou, gesturing for Rin to take a seat across from him. Rin held her ground for a handful of seconds before relenting and taking the offered chair, placing the pillow she had been using as a weapon on the aforementioned chair before seating herself. "Are you calm?"

"I will be if you pull a miracle out of your ass and give me a satisfying reason as to why you decided to play your ULTIMATE..."

"Calm down," ordered Shirou, his voice raising the slightest of amounts before Rin could begin her tirade once again.

"Fine," grumbled Rin, crossing her arms across her chest before falling silent, her mind already made up that nothing Shirou said would be acceptable as an excuse.

"What are you doing?"

"What am I doing?" Rin said, her voice leaking vengeful retaliation as she found her fist clenching.

"What are you doing?" repeated Shirou before elaborating. "This world isn't governed the same way ours is. We don't need to be cautious that any move we make will be monitored by Clock Tower or any other construct that would see our actions as breaking the secrecy of magecraft. All we need to do is say that it is simply our 'quirks' developing. I know you hate that word and referring to your magecraft as such but it is a gateway that allows you to be you without having to hide a part of you."

"I know you could have worded that better," stated Rin, getting mildly frustrated by Shirou's inability to state what he wanted to say clearly.

"Probably, but my point still remains," said Shirou. "We got thrown into this world without any warning. I've adapted. I'm enjoying teaching kids how to better themselves and their ability while they chase similar dreams to what I had growing up. Going out and doing what I want, this world is something I have found a place in. You haven't." Shirou paused momentarily as he watched the tension in Rin's body lacken ever so slightly. "You are still trying to control everything around you, myself included. Before you tell me otherwise, we've been together for over half a century, I know when you're playing some sort of game. What your end game was, I don't know but I do know this. It won't work, or at least it won't work in the way you think it will. That's simply because this world doesn't work the way you think it will. I'm going with the flow of the world around me while you are trying to take unfamiliar circumstances and force them to bend to your will."

Rin emitted something similar to a low growl as she waited for Shirou to continue, knowing that he had more to say. "Outside of whatever it is that you are playing, what is it that you want to do? Travel, relax, continue to study? Everything I felt you have done has been so centered about whatever you are chasing that the greater picture is obscured. I know you have had this on your mind for a long time and I could tell from the day when we got caught by the police. I know you Rin, you could have gotten us out of prison a dozen different ways that didn't include us breaking down the wall and painting a bigger target on our backs. Also, we fought for forty minutes before being defeated. That's all. I know you can go for far longer than that regardless of the opponent. You were going easy, you wanted us to get caught and seeing this, I went along with it. You really think that I would have taken that kick to the head normally?"

"Fine!" said Rin with authority, silencing Shirou before he said something else that got under her skin. She found her teeth grinding together as she actually tried to find something to argue against. She didn't want to admit it, but he was right, at least in parts. Rin knew she had been trying to manipulate things, for a long time. She had even been the one to tip off the police that the two of them were living in the same apartment without any supervision, which had simply been the start of the plan she had put into play.

The worst thing that she could do now would be to admit that she had been doing everything up to this point to help Shirou find a point and purpose to live and not chase the inevitable death he sought. To die atop a hill of swords. That was how she knew Shirou would one day die and she so desperately wanted to push him away from such a path. He had already spent a lifetime fighting wherever there had been conflict. She had just wanted him to stop.

It seemed that he had, at least partially. He was still in conflict, though to hear that Shirou found enjoyment in pushing children to break through their limit was something which surprised her, the conflict had simply changed. Rin tried to think back to the last time she had asked Shirou how one of his late night adventures had gone where he did his best to change what he could. She found it mildly irritating that for months he had gone out and fought before returning and she had not asked him how the night had gone. She simply looked up from whatever it was she was doing, saw that he was alright before returning to whatever task she had undertaken. Had she been that goal oriented that she hadn;t taken the time to work out what she wanted?

It was a terrifying thought, one that Shirou would never know that he had been correct in, but she didn't know what to do. What was it that she truly wanted to do? Not for Shirou, not for the betterment of magecraft, not for anybody but herself. Could she simply switch off; spend a couple months lying off a luxury island somewhere and get pampered from dusk to dawn without worry? Or perhaps delve into some texts that weren't based around thaumaturgical foundation and simply get lost in a novel?

Could she stop worrying about Shirou and focus on her own wellbeing?

Thankfully, it seemed as if Shirou wasn't expecting an answer, or at least he wasn't expecting one right at this moment. He had turned his attention back to the television where Bakugo was currently obliterating his pink skinned classmate. Maybe she didn't need to worry about him as much as she did and could actually focus on something for herself.

Still didn't mean that he would get away for making her get so worked up. Stupidity needed to be properly punished after all.

...

To say Yaoyorozu was disappointed in her performance against Todoroki was an understatement. She had been beaten...convincingly so. The blink of an eye was all it took between when the match had commenced and she had found herself encased in a prison of ice, not even enough time to craft anything that resembled a defence. Not that anything in her abilities would have been capable of defending her against such destructive power.

Sitting in the nurse's office, Momo found herself with her knees pressed to her chest as she found herself struggling to find her worth. She had entered the academy the same way that Todoroki had, through special recommendations. The skill level between however was mountains apart.

Ever the first lesson since she had taken in UA she had found her levels of self doubt forming. Ranking only eighth after having entered through such a prestigious manner had been the first blow to her ego, her confidence temporarily shattering when having to compete against Shirou in the first obstacle their teacher had thrown at them. She had recovered late into the events but by then the damage had already been done.

Suffering defeat in the first team battle had done nothing more to help her self esteem. Having tasted the bitter taste of defeat against the students who had struggled the most in the earlier assessment. Their tactics had been sound but they had been bested regardless, herself without even having encountered the most dangerous aspect on the team.

Then there had been the encounter against the villains who had brazenly attacked the facility. She, Jiro and Kaminari had been the only three who had been at the mercy of the villains who had attacked the students, their electricity wielding peer having been held hostage with them unable to do anything. It was only through the retreat of their leader did they find some manner of safety, the villain threatening them choosing to surrender than to face the strength of All Might.

Then after intense training, both in and outside the school, she had felt herself prepared for the events of today. She had found herself coming in seventeenth through the first event, almost not having made it into the top half of those who had made it into the second round. While she had played a role in the cavalry battle, the star well and truly was the person whom she was carrying into the next event. The one who had beaten her so quickly only an hour later.

What was she doing? Why was she here? Could she even become a hero?

Unfortunately, to these questions, Yaoyorozu had no answers.

...

Iida admired the atmosphere that surrounded him as he stepped on to the arena. All these people here who would witness just what he was capable of. He could not have asked for a greater platform on which to announce that the brother of the famed hero Ingenium was here for the world to see.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself," said his opponent across the ring. Iida turned his head and looked at the person who he would shortly do battle with. Just because he was from the general studies course didn't mean that he should take him lightly.

"Of course, such an event comes around only so often and I may never get to be able to put on a good show in front of such an audience again," commented Iida. "Therefore, I must do my utmost best now in order to give myself the best chance of making a name for myself so early in my career."

"Well then," said the general studies student as Midnight announced the start of the match. "I wish you good luck then."

Iida couldn't help but return the well wishes in kind, only for him to suddenly find himself outside the ring, eliminated from the competition without even having thrown a strike at his opponent. Turning around in shock, Iida watched as Midnight announced his opponent the winner of the contest. He could do nothing but stand there, flabbergasted, wondering just what had happened. Across the rest of the arena and all those who had been watching on a nearby television, the answer was as plain as day.

...

"Brainwashing huh," said Shirou from his seat. "Triggered through a response in conversation. I take it he'll give up before the next round now that his ability is revealed to his next opponent."

"Yes," acknowledged Rin. "All he needed to do was get to this stage to show what he was capable of. Considering he is matched against Todoroki next round who likely won't even give him the chance to speak, he will just remove himself from the equation beforehand."

"Compared to your own hypnosis though I take it is nothing special. While powerful against those ill prepared he cannot count on them responding in the first place," analyzed Shirou. "I take it he hasn't taught himself anything else at this stage, no hand to hand combat skills of any nature to be able to engage regardless of whether his brainwashing works."

"It is something to consider, I might even put myself under his power momentarily before breaking out to show him that he needs to think outside his little box," added Rin. "What about your next opponent, the boy with the tail, will he forfeit? Surely he knows he cannot defeat you."

"He's aware of it," said Shirou. "He'll likely still come at me though, just to show that he is willing to throw himself at an opponent far stronger than him."

"That sounds awfully familiar of an annoying person I meant so long ago," mused Rin. "How he would throw himself against heroic spirits despite having no battle experience of his own."

"My, I wonder who that could have been," replied Shirou, the sarcasm practically dripping from his lips. As he pushed himself to a standing position, he rolled his neck from side to side. "I'd ask you to wish me luck but we both know that he needs it more than I do."

Rin crossed her arms over her chest, tossing her head to the side in mock disgust. "I'm offended you think so little of the luck I can impose upon someone."

"Yeah yeah," said Shirou, waving off Rin as he made his way to the door. As he gripped the handle however, his guard was let down enough that he didn't expect several blasts to crash into his back. Perhaps having turned his back to Rin who was likely still hating him after what he had done may not have been the best of ideas.

"See, why send your opponent luck when I can actually give them a handicap?" said Rin, clearly pleased with what she had done.

"Wonderful," said Shirou as he felt the curses that Rin had inflicted upon him settle into his system. Despite the illness that was spreading through his body, he knew that giving in would only further the smug look he knew was likely on across Rin's face. Stepping out the doorway, he found his bearing difficult to maintain, almost having to lean against the nearby wall to prevent himself from falling to the floor.

Worse than the feeling that was pulsing through him however were the final words he could hear from the waiting room behind him.

"Good luck."

...

Ojiro was nervous, rightfully so. Here he was, still mildly burned and damaged from his battle with Aoyama and now he had to fight the juggernaut that was easily the favourite to win the tournament. Win was too simple a word, perhaps saying that he was the favourite to obliterate the competition would be making it sound more realistic.

Here he was, a man with a tail, against someone who could make the entire audience shiver in fright by chanting some words and channeling his power. Ojiro knew that nobody would blame him were he to quit right here but now he couldn't bring himself to do it. He would go down, that was a guarantee. If he could land one hit in though, that would be something he could gloat to the world about...if he wanted to be reminded of the beat down he had received to land a single blow.

"Here he is!" shouted Present Mic, building up the crowd to the best of his ability. His words only caused Ojiro to find his nerves building even more, perspiration starting to form on his brow. "Ladies and gentlemen, the man who has bested both professional heroes and villains alike, the competitor we have all come here to see, I present to you Emiya Shirou!"

Ojiro braced himself to look at the imposing figure marching towards him, every step sentencing him to a painful fate. Only to find himself oddly surprised to find Shirou struggling with his walk to the ring. His steps were small, shaky almost. Had whatever he had done in the opening bout against his friend sapped away at his strength? If that was the case, it only made what he was trying to do slightly more terrifying.

Other than fear though, was an emotion that Ojiro had effectively given up on. Hope. If Shirou wasn't at his peak (and preferably around ten percent of his potential) then Ojiro found himself believing that he might very well have a chance.

It seemed he wasn't the only one that had noticed that Shirou wasn't at his peak. Midnight had approached him and Ojiro could just hear her asking him if he wished to continue. The approval Shirou gave for the fight to go ahead was defiant and Ojiro found himself bouncing on his toes. One strong blow to knock Shirou off balance would be enough to tip the advantage completely in his favor and he could potentially knock him out of bounds.

So lost in his thoughts, Ojiro nearly missed the start as Midnight signalled for the two of them to begin. Not giving Shirou the time to compose himself properly, Ojiro charged forward, crossing the distance between them in only a handful of seconds. Launching himself, Ojiro twisted and allowed his tail to turn at high velocity. Somewhat unexpectedly, the blow was dodged with Shirou stepping backwards to prevent the muscular limb from connecting with his ribs.

That was something of a sign for Ojiro. Shirou had dodged his attack. Not blocked, parried, countered or anything which led to immediate defeat. He had dodged it.

Carrying on the assault, Ojiro launched at Shirou with repetitive attacks, whilst mostly centred about his tail, the teenager included a random assortment of kicks and punches into the mix to try and catch Shirou off guard. Every blow however was dodged, barely in some cases which only served to spur Ojiro on more since he was slowly pushing Shirou closer to the edge.

Leaping up and twisting in midair, Ojiro tried to bring his tail crashing down atop Shirou's head only for the limb to strike, unfortunately it wasn't true. Shirou had raised his arms up to prevent the blow from doing any sort of real damage. If anything, Ojiro felt as if he had taken more damage in that exchange than Shirou had.

Leaping back to give himself some space, Ojiro looked at the state of his opponent. Shirou still looked worse for wear, as bad as Ojiro had ever seen him. HIs stance however had firmed if only a little and the teenager had to remind himself that the person in front of him had faced off and defeated enemies far stronger than he was.

Still though, he had to strike while he still had the chance to do so. Rushing forward, Ojiro lunged at Shirou in the hopes of tossing him over the edge of the arena and winning via a ring out. When he struck Shirou however, he found him to be immovable and a single thought swiftly rushed through Ojiro's mind.

His window of opportunity had just slammed shut.

Shiro crafted a weapon, one which Ojiro was more than familiar with though one which nobody in the arena would understand the fear of. Torashinai, the wooden training sword that Shirou had used to defeat him and his peers repetitively on a day to day basis. He could almost hear the anguish and despair from some of his classmates over the sound of the crowd.

"It seems as is Shirou has been toying with Ojiro, even now not even producing one of the more dangerous weapons we know he has at his disposal," announced Present Mic, though Ojiro saw it differently. If anything, Shirou opting to bring out that weapon from his arsenal as opposed to the hundreds that he himself had admitted to having at his beck and call meant that he saw this as nothing more than training.

Here, on this stage and even in the condition that he was in, Shirou was still trying to train Ojiro. The will to forfeit crept into Ojiro's mind but he couldn't bring himself to do it, not after having come this far. Steeling his nerves, he charged forward once more knowing the sensation of defeat he was soon to feel.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

**...**

Shirou's breaths were short and shallow, his grip on Torashinai firm despite the sheen of sweat that covered his body. His vision and hearing were hazy at best, Ojiro looking very little like the human Shirou knew him to be. Thankfully he was able to distinguish between him and the background which helped, epsecially as he ducked beneath the kick that had shot past where his head was only moments prior. From his crouching position, Shirou poured shaky strength into his legs, able to utilize the leap to avoid Ojiro's follow up strike. With the tail strike avoided and Ojiro's back open, Shirou lashed out with a thrust, striking Ojiro square in the back of his right shoulder.

Shirou landed, just capable of maintaining his footing as Ojiro struggled with the blow having knocked him forward. Turning around as quickly as he could, Ojiro raised his arms to block his face from the follow up strike that was coming. Or at least should have been coming. Slowly Ojiro lowered his guard, shocked that Shirou hadn't followed up on the clear opening that had been there for him. Instead, the swordsman had remained where he had stood, seemingly content to take those few extra seconds to try and recover from whatever was ailing him.

Realizing that he still had to make use of the advantage that was available to him, Ojiro moved forward once again, darting from side to side to try and gain some sort of surprise against Shirou. Darting to Shirou's left, Ojiro struck out at Shirou's exposed ribs only for Torashinai to be brought up and to strike the exposed limb, knocking it off target. Off balance once more, Ojiro could only flounder about and brace himself as Shirou's foot rocketed up and struck him in the arm with almost enough strength to knock him off of his feet.

The follow up blow was.

Ojiro bounced off the ground, quickly getting back to his feet and raising his guard to protect his face only for Torashinai's pommel to be driven into his abdomen. The air having been swiftly knocked out of him, Ojiro couldn't help but double over. "You...always guard your face," said Shirou softly, between heavy breaths. "You don't look...at where the blow...is going to land."

Ojiro could only respond with a groan of frustration as he took a couple of quick steps back to try and gain some kind of distance between himself and Shirou only to find the tip of Torashinai held against his neck. It was a position which was common in Shirou's training sessions, a symbolic motion that the student had been defeated and to take what they had learnt as they moved to the back of the line to prepare to try again. There was no line though, it was just the two of them, standing with the world watching.

It was a defiant move, one that would garner him quite a bit of attention due to pure grit and determination in the face of adversity. As Ojiro turned his head up to look at Shirou, his hand slowly came up and pushed the weapon away from his body.

He would not give up with so many people watching. True heroes didn't give up, no matter what challenge they were confronted them. Straightening himself to see the look of approval Shirou was sending him assured him that he had done the right thing. Even if the consequential beatdown would result in him somewhat humiliated in front of such a large audience, his heart and soul was in the right place.

...

Midoriya watched from his seat amongst his peers as Ojiro was stretchered out of the arena with Shirou having been announced the winner. There was little fanfare from those in attendance, having not really enjoyed having watched such a one sided affair, despite how much heart Ojiro had shown during the fight. While Ojiro had been fighting til the bitter end against all the odds, Shirou had been deliberately taking his time, the bout nearly taking the whole fifteen minutes of allotted time.

Midoriya had been taking notes, or as much as he could throughout the battle. Previous pages had far more details regarding the other battles that had taken place. There just really wasn't much that he could say about the fight that wasn't common knowledge at this point. Credit did have to be given to Ojiro though, his willpower to fight to the very end was admirable despite the fact that his chances of victory were minimal from the beginning.

The next bout would likely be more entertaining visually than the one sided affair that had just taken place. That being said, this fight would likely also be one sided, Bakugo having been merciless in his original bout against Ashido. The acid quirk wielding teenager had fought valiantly but there was just too much of a difference in destructive power. Now Bakugo would be competing against Kirishima. Despite the fact that the two of them had been on the same team during the cavalry battle, Midoriya knew that Kaa-chan wouldn't go easy against his former teammate.

That being said, Kirishima's sturdy body would be able to remain strong against Bakugo's explosive power. It was just a question of whether or not Kirishima's hardening quirk would be capable of withstanding the storm that was coming his way for long enough of a time to mount something of a comeback. They had learnt recently that Kirishima's defensive strength was not as great as he had once believed.

Shirou had been able to break such a formidable defence with only the wooden training sword that he had just defeated Ojiro with. Midoriya could not even bring himself to mention the name of the weapon that had bludgeoned the entirety of his class time and time again.

That was something that Midoriya had written in another book back at his house. One which he knew he couldn't fill with any other details considering how much there was still likely to come.

Shirou's weapons.

On every left page was the drawing, or in some cases multiple drawings of the weapons that Shirou had brought into reality through the use of his quirk. When he had mentioned names of certain weapons, it never sounded as if he had bestowed said weapons with the names himself. They had been named beforehand, by their original owner.

It was such a weird thing to think about.

To prove Shirou's quirk, not that he doubted him in the first place, Midoriya had looked through the National Museum's database and had found an image of one of Masamune's blades. More specifically, the identical katana that Shirou had crafted on the bus before the villain attack. He was able to garner a huge amount of details from the database to the point where that page was filled to brim with notes about the weapon itself.

Other weapons had produced far less information. The giant stone blade that Shirou had crafted in his battle against the older student who had battled naked (a sight Midoroya believed he would never be able to get out of his mind). Rough notes and mere speculation was all that Midoriya could conjure and the facts were likely far from what he had put down. While Shirou was able to utilize such a weapon in the way he had, the original user had to be at least a dozen feet in height and the strength to use such a heavy weapon cleanly meant their strength was incredible to put it lightly.

It was speculation. Nothing more than that but it was terrifying to imagine such a character utilizing the monstrous weapon with ease.

"Introducing first..."

Present Mic's voice booming across the arena snapped Midoriya back to reality as he watched his peers step onto the arena. The grip on his utensil tightened ever so slightly as he prepared to write down whatever he could. There was still so much he could learn from the upcoming fights. While the notes he took would be offered to those willing to take some manner of advice he was able to give, they were also to be used in his own rights. There would be battles moving forward and Midoriya wanted to know both how to fight against and with his peers in combat training.

There was still much ahead after all.

...

With cold water crashing against his face, Shirou took in deep breaths as he felt his inept magical energy purging the curses from his body. The damage that had been inflicted upon his system was slowly being repaired piece by piece. At least he could see properly again.

And one of the things in his waiting room that was quite easy to see was that Rin had left. When he had entered the room he had already been preparing to trace a plethora of weapons in order to shield himself against a number of spells that Run could have potentially sent his way. The fact that his longtime companion had opted to leave during his match wasn't surprising really. Even with the handicap in place she likely knew that he would still walk away victorious and had likely vanished to simply avoid further confrontation.

Taking a seat, Shirou rubbed at his eyes as he replayed what he had said to Rin. He had been as blunt as he was able, which was how he had needed to convey his message. If he had danced around the topic then Rin wouldn't have taken his words seriously and would have dismissed them with a flick of her hand.

Looking up at the small television, Shirou was glad to see that Kirishima was successfully holding his own against Bakugo, at least for now. Every second that passed by was another second that his body would work to reject the curses from his system. Kirishima just so happened to be an optimal candidate for buying time.

Bakugo would be an interesting challenge for Shirou, not so much in terms of difficulty but more so in teaching both him and the world that he wasn't the top dog that he made himself out to be. Back when he had defeated him with ease, Shirou had been able to stop Bakugo's tendencies if only for a moment. Whether or not he would be able to get the boy to submit as opposed to fighting til unconsciousness was the question. Ojiro had not had anything to lose, hence why he had refused to give in. In Shirou's eyes, Bakugo had a lot to lose.

Even watching him on the screen, Bakugo seemed to be doing his utmost to decimate his way through Kirishima's defence, ignoring any potential retaliation that could come his way. He wanted to prove a point to all those who were watching that he was not somebody to be overlooked and left in the shadows of anybody around him.

That being said, unless Bakugo was delusional in his self belief, he couldn't believe that he could successfully overcome the gap between the two of them. If he still had something to prove at the end of this bout, which unfortunately looked as if it was coming to an end, then it would be interesting to see how he approached his upcoming bout.

Shirou just hoped that the following contests would still allow him some manner of time to be in top condition once more, or at least as close to it as necessary.

...

Ryuko watched on from the stands where the first year students were duking it out. Many would have thought that with her being here watching these pupils instead of the third years was that she was scouting for a new apprentice. That being said she had seen quite a few students whom she could envision leading in the times ahead, that wasn't the reason why she was here.

Though she believed many of the professional heroes in attendance were here to watch the same student she was. Everything else was side value.

While his second bout hadn't shown them anything that they weren't aware of, the first fight had definitely shown everybody that Shirou was still hiding something. It wasn't surprising that he had been hiding something when combating the professional heroes, everybody had an ace up their sleeves. Being in the top ten heroes hadn't meant she had been immune to the feelings of intense pressure that had washed across the stadium. While many of her peers had prepared to either leap to combat or help those in attendance evacuate the arena to safety, she had remained transfixed on the two people in the centre of the ring.

Or more importantly, the person who had been standing across from Shirou as such powerful waves of energy blasted in all directions. Rin not only had been able to stand in such proximity without little more than a flinch, she had even retaliated. Ryuko theorized that not only had the young girl seen that part of Shirou's technique, she had witnessed it in its entirety.

While they had not been able to witness what she was capable of, Ryuko and likely a lot of people in attendance understood that Rin was strong. Terrifyingly so. When she had been fighting alongside Shirou, she had looked as if she was there simply in a supporting role. In those few moments however it seemed as if she was capable of more, so much more.

The fact though that she had chosen to enrol in the General Department of U.A as opposed to signing up to be a hero or perhaps finding her feet in another area. It was a waste of potential, one that she sincerely hoped that Rin would be able to find her way through. She still recalled how the girl had acted when she had been stuck in the hotel room with herself, Midnight and Uwabami. Her cold demeanour, which while it may have been brought on from having had to deal with Midnight for an extended period of time, would mean that it would be difficult for her to forge connections. She didn't seem like the kind of person to simply open herself up to anyone.

Ryuko wished the best for the girl, she truly did. Someone with that much potential to make a difference in the world should be given the best possibility to truly strive towards what she wanted to do in life. That however begged a curious question, one which likely tied in to why she had chosen to become a student in frankly one of the most boring courses U.A had to offer.

What did she want out of life? Did she know what she wanted out of life? Most troubling of all, did she need someone to show her what she wanted? If she went searching for someone to help guide her, someone who had nefarious plans in mind, would she follow them?

...

Endeavour watched on, his arms crossed over his chest as his disobedient son walked off of the arena floor after having easily dispatched his last opponent. Once more again only using his mother's half of his quirk.

Endeavour wasn't a fool to believe that his son would just open up to using all of his power. He needed to be pushed into such a situation. Thankfully, he seemed to be heading straight on a collision course where his ice wouldn't be enough to help him. From what Endeavour could figure, the brat with the explosive power had the strength necessary to force his son to use something other than his mother's quirk.

It was all just a question of whether or not the explosive kid would be able to confront his son in the finals. He would have to get past the sword crafting brat in the next bout. Endeavour needed the weaponsmith to fall in the next fight. It didn't matter what sword, spear or shield he brought to his side, nothing would be able to help unfreeze him from the tundra his son could craft in the blink of an eye.

His quirk just wouldn't be able to compete against his son. Such was the power of his child. He would be the one to surpass All Might. It was his destiny.

...

Bakugo could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he marched towards the ring. This contest was the one he was most looking forward to. He expected that everyone in the arena was also waiting on the edge of their seats to see him and Shirou clash.

He had a plan however, one which went against everything that he usually stood for. The sword crafting bastard needed to be knocked down a peg however and he would be the one to do it. Shirou didn't seem like the kind of guy to refuse a challenge. He simply needed to bait him and victory was his.

Bakugo recalled how when they had been confronted by the villains he had struck Shirou when his attack had been diverted by the shadow bastard. He hadn't pulled his punch in the slightest and his explosion had struck Shirou straight in the face and the bastard hadn't even seemed to have felt it. Since then he had been working at something new, something which would get Shirou to acknowledge him as a threat.

Ignoring the sound of the audience, Bakugo looked straight across at the bastard in front of him. He seemed weakened and the running theory was that the ultimate move he had been channeling had sapped him of his strength. Something which very well could work in his advantage.

Before Midnight could ask the two of them if they were ready to begin, Bakugo spoke up. "Oi sword bastard, let's do something different to what all these shitheads expect," he said, a venomous smile spreading across his face. "We each do one attack, one finishing blow and we determine the winner from that."

Bakugo knew that he needed Shirou to accept. In a standard contest he was beaten in strength, he wasn't a fool to think otherwise. The ace up his sleeve needed to be prepared beforehand and needed the person to be in close proximity. Thankfully his hands were already dripping in sweat from having planned this as soon as he had finished beating the shit out of the hard bastard.

Shirou seemed to ponder the thought for a while before nodding in acceptance.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we're skipping the bout and heading straight into the final moments!" announced Present Mic. "Both competitors have agreed to just lay it all down with their ultimate attacks that they can muster!"

"You got no issue with me going first do you," said Bakugo, to which Shirou merely gestured for him to go ahead.

Bakugo took slow, purposeful steps until he was standing only a foot away from where Shirou was standing, ignoring the words that Present Mic was announcing over the speaker system. Placing his right hand in front of him, his left hand formed a fist with only the smallest of holes on his palm. The fist was only the smallest of distances away from Shirou's lower torso. Taking deep breaths, Bakugo could feel the buildup in his hands before he released it at point blank range.

"DIE! AP Shot!"

For those watching from behind where Shirou was standing, they could only gasp in horror as they saw a finger width beam of pure explosive energy emanate from out of his back. Bakugo couldn't help but allow the smile to fall from his face however. His attack had worked, there was no doubt of that. He had been working day in and day out to give it the greatest chance of being able to pierce through the strongest of targets. It did exactly what he had wanted it to do.

Except defeat his opponent.

Shirou still stood there, seemingly unfazed by the fact that he now had a clean hole through his abdomen. He didn't say anything but Shirou hadn't even flinched with the damage that had been done.

Now, Bakugo had to deal with whatever fate Shirou had in store for him.

Taking several calm steps backwards, Bakugo halted only to watch as Shirou's arm stretched out until it was shoulder height. A glow of light briefly lit up the area in Shirou's grip before a sword appeared into existence. It was long, really long. Bakugo assumed it was roughly five feet in length. Shirou altered his stance, his right leg coming back while his left leg bent at the knee. The hilt of the blade was brought up to the right side of Shirou's face where he gripped it in two hands with the tip of the blade pointed straight at Bakugo.

Bakugo couldn't help as his eyes went wide as Shirou struck, not once, not twice but thrice in the same instant. Three blows in a single moment sent Bakugo sprawling to the ground, unconsciousness swiftly coming to his being. His last thoughts before his mind shut down on him was of how Shirou had hit him with the flat of the blade.

That absolute bastard.

...

Rin watched the small television with disdain within the building she temporarily called home. It seemed that Shirou, in his stupidity which was something he had abundance of as of the moment, had chosen not to apply his reinforcement in taking Bakugo's head on attack. Likely the idiot had wanted to prove a point and this was the best way of going about it.

Shirou had taken worse before, much worse, and it would heal in given time. From the small view that Rin had been granted from the camera angles it looked as if Bakugo's attack had not hit any crucial organ but even if it had, Shirou would have kept that same stoic look on his face.

Turning away from the screen, the magus continued to pack her belongings away into the large bag laying in the centre of the living room.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I do not own either My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

**...**

Shirou ignored the people scrambling about to find him. It was understandable that they were panicked for his health considering what had happened to him during his battle with Bakugo. The wound itself hurt, nothing that rendered him immobile by any imagination but there was still a manner of pain to be had. He was thankful that Bakugo hadn't struck any of his internal organs, likely on purpose. He was still trying to be a hero, and killing him in front of an audience would have resulted in much more than him being kicked out of the academy.

Chances were he would still be reprimanded pretty heavily for his actions, an attack of that calibre could very well have killed anybody other than himself. His return strike very well could have as well, even if he hadn't slowed it down exponentially. With the speed at which the original attack was made, even with the flat of the blade he could have easily broken Bakugo's neck so he had had to be sure to pull enough out of the attack to ensure the boy's long term safety.

Another person ran past looking for him, having not been able to see him despite having been in such close proximity. Such was the wonders of the cap that adorned his crown, keeping him hidden from sight. He wasn't going to let anybody see him and try to prevent him from competing against Todoroki in the final.

After all, he still had one last lesson to teach today.

...

Midoriya couldn't help but feel shaken from the display he had just seen. Taking a quick moment to look at the faces of his peers, he knew that they all had similar feelings of unease coursing through their bodies. After all, they had just watched one of their classmates take a would that would have crippled any of them without so much of a wince.

The level of tolerance to simply ignore such damage was incredible. Midoriya knew that if he taken such a hit he would have been on the ground completely incapacitated and vulnerable to any sort of follow up. The idea of unleashing any sort of attack afterwards would have not existed in the slightest. He doubted any of those sitting beside him would have been able to bring forth some sort of retaliation after an attack like that.

This did bring up a couple of key points that Midoriya knew had to be addressed. First and foremost was what kind of condition would Shirou be in for the final against Todoroki who had yet to take a single shred of damage in his cumulative matches. It had also become a bit of folklore around their class how during the first batch of teamfights, Shirou had chosen not to clash head on with Todoroki choosing a different route to victory by having taken one of his teammates hostage. Shirou clearly held Todoroki on another level above them and having watched him systematically destroy his opponents in this tournament it was clear to see why.

The second thing that came to mind was how much time and effort Kacchan had clearly put in on the side in order to improve himself. He had developed a technique in his own time that would render so many that crossed his path incapable of retaliating. It was an attack meant to finish a fight and render him victorious. While it may not have worked on Shirou, that was mostly because Shirou in and of himself was ridiculously overpowered.

Had the gap between himself and Kacchan grown ever larger? It was a daunting thought, one that made him bring his hand up in front of his face in thought. He could barely maintain five percent of his potential. He needed to get stronger. He had to.

...

Midnight looked at the arena floor where one opponent was currently standing, waiting to see whether or not his opposition would be capable of combating against him. The professional hero silently hoped that Shirou wouldn't arrive. He may have been putting on a brave face during that last battle but there was no way that he wasn't in some manner of pain. There was no way that Recovery Girl would give him the all clear to fight and unfortunately, she had the belief that Shirou knew that and subsequently wouldn't have sought medical assistance. For all she knew he was currently collapsed against a wall somewhere doing his best to maintain consciousness.

Since she had yet to hear anything saying otherwise she couldn't help but fear such an outcome.

Her gaze shifted to the commentators box where Present Mic met her gaze to only shrug his shoulders. Allowing a sigh to escape her lips, one that she was certain was more out of relief than anything else, she raised her hand into the air and prepared to make her call. She only prevented herself from doing so because of the almost screeching sound coming from the entryway that Shirou was set to come from.

It was the sound of steel on steel.

From the darkness of the corridor this sound rang forth, time and time again. If it was meant to be an intimidation tactic, Midnight felt like it was working. Were she to hear such a sound coming from behind her she would be unleashing her quirk and trying to render anybody in the vicinity to fall victim to her power. It was sending chills down her spine and she was a professional hero. The silence from the rest of the stadium told her that the civilians in attendance were likely being affected in a far greater manner than she was.

She didn't blame them, they knew what was coming. They had witnessed this student unleash a power which had many of them quivering in their seats before his last round where he took a devastating blow and shrugged it off as if it was nothing. Then there had been the final weapon that he had brought to his side.

When she had seen it, Midnight had immediately felt as if she needed to end the fight right there and then. That was a lethal weapon if she had even seen one and in the wrong hands it very well could have ended the life of Bakugo right there and then. To have been able to do what he had just went to show how much training Shirou had gone through. The confidence to do so as well was another thing as well. He had kept such composure that he could execute such a powerful technique without fear of accidentally maiming or perhaps even killing his opponent.

The sounds started to ring closer and closer as Shirou stepped into view, nobody in the crowd cheering as they watched on in mild shock. In his hands he held dual rapiers, the tips of the weapons cleanly slicing through the concrete beside his feet with little resistance. It was a statement if she had ever seen one. For the first time it looked as if Shirou was taking a fight seriously and it was a terrifying look.

"Come back here!"

Midnight returned her glance to the entryway where Recovery Girl was marching forward with purpose in her steps, flanked by Hound Dog and Power Loader. "That man is not medically cleared to compete!" shouted Recovery Girl pointing her cane at Shirou's back. "Do not let him fight!"

Before either of the two teachers standing by her side, their path was blocked as no fewer than a dozen swords penetrated the ground before them. "Do you really want to stop me?" asked Shirou, his back still turned to them. The message was clear, he needed this fight and nobody would stop him.

The growling of Hound Dog eliminated through the arena as the bestial teacher prepared to lunge forward. Recovery Girl's cane swung to the side and stopped him temporarily, her mind running through several possible scenarios, including the one which would cause Shirou's wounds to become further damaged. The boy wouldn't give up easily and considering his past he wasn't go down without a fight. Unfortunately it seemed as if there would be some compromising to be had.

"You will receive treatment the minute after this is finished you hear and if you miss the medal ceremony so be it," ordered Recovery Girl. Instead of answering verbally, Shirou did so by allowing the swords he had crafted, both in his hands and the ones cemented into the ground to vanish leaving only the damage they had caused carved into the surface.

Midnight couldn't help but feel uncertain about the whole situation, especially as Shirou stepped on to the arena floor to stare at Todoroki. She mildly wished that Todoroki was capable of ending the fight as quickly as every other bout. With Shirou being his opponent however, she sincerely doubted that it would be that simple.

Reluctantly, Midnight started the match.

...

The explosion of ice burst forward with about any hesitation, the coldness sweeping around the arena at a blistering pace. For those who thought the match had come to an end like many others they were proven wrong with huge chunks of ice evaporating instantaneously. The corresponding steam hid Shirou from view momentarily but Todoroki was already preparing for retaliation. A thick wall of ice forming in front of him which shielded him from an assortment of weapons which crashed into his defence, some completely piercing through but thankfully missing him by the barest of margins. The wall shattered apart in a dazzling display as the weapons dematerialized. The remaining steam dispersed to show Shirou standing there unharmed, a flaming sword with a golden pommel held in his hand.

Seven seconds was all the time that had passed.

Everyone in the audience waited with baited breath for the next moment, wondering which of the two combatants would be the first to strike. Todoroki would be the first to launch, sharp stalagmites of ice shooting up out of the ground, growing ever closer to their target. To retort, Shirou stuck the flaming sword he held into the ground. The ice, unable to compete with the heat emanating from the weapon made it impossible to breach a eight foot radius around it.

"Now what will you do?"

Shirou's question almost echoed about the stadium. Todorkoi, clearly infuriated, sent another blast of ice outwards similar to his original attack. While it was successful in covering a majority of the arena's surface in the frozen tundra he was capable of producing, it was evident that there was one area that hadn't been touched.

The arrow that shot through the wall of ice struck the wall behind Todoroki at a speed which he was unable to see. The trickle of blood that was running down from the fresh cut on his cheek was a sure fire reminder that the person he was combatting was unlike anybody he had faced before.

"You're struggling."

Todoroki couldn't help the chill that spread over his body and unfortunately it wasn't from the ice that was surrounding him. The voice was ominous and sounded as if it was resonating from all directions. The fact that it wasn't wrong didn't help in the slightest.

His core temperature was lowering rapidly and he didn't have the chance to regulate to a reasonable number while this conflict was still occuring. He only needed to break past Shirou's defence. Just one pure blast of...

"It won't work. No cold will come to the wielder of this blade."

Was that true? Was Shirou just messing with him? Did he have enough time to come to a conclusion? The sound of something whistling through the air but this time it sounded as if it was coming from the left. No, to the right? Todoroki simply acted, a dome of ice surrounding his person just in time as a dozen weapons crashed around him from all angles.

"Just so you know, I could have sent those weapons faster than you could have heard."

Was Shirou mocking him? Toying with him?

Again, no time was given for Todoroki to process this intel as the barrier protecting him was shattered, not by a weapon of any sort but a fist. Todoroki couldn't help as his eyes widened as the visage of Shirou appeared in front of him, a cold look spread across his face. He tried to leap backwards only for the collar of his jumpsuit to be gripped and pulled forward, his face coming only mere inches away from Shirou.

Todoroki's right hand came up, only for Shirou to knock it to the side before thrusting him down, his body crashing off the ground. Before Todoroki had the chance to recover he found his arm pinned to the ground as swords of every shape and style drove into the ground. The mere thought of trying to move his arm from it's position spoke of terrifying consequences.

He couldn't help the lump that formed in his throat, his strength had been taken from him and his body temperature was well below dangerous levels. Shirou stood up, looking down at the foe unable to rise up from his position with his primary weapon out of action.

His secondary option however was still available.

No, he couldn't. It wasn't even an option. He had been bested. He should just...

"If you even think of giving up you need to leave this academy," said Shirou. "Every person who has stepped in this ring today has put in all of their effort, even in losing battles. They didn't exhaust a single resource at their disposal. You haven't even used half of yours."

"You don't..."

"Whatever it is you have to say, I don't care," said Shirou, cutting off Todoroki before he was able to get started. "You've suffered some trauma or have some sort of background issue about using the other half of your power. I don't care about that. What I care about, is the day when you need to save someone and this isn't enough." To emphasize his point, Shirou did a sweeping movement over the top of Todoroki's right side.

"It's more than enough to..."

"Really, more than enough," repeated Shirou. "You know what you are? A coward. A coward who is too afraid to even think about using what he has at his disposal. Look at Midoriya, if he doesn't properly control his power then he breaks his bones yet he is still here willing to give his all. You don't even put in the effort."

"Shut up!"

"Touch a nerve did I? I don't care. To live as a hero means you have to live with suffering, not just your own but of those you were unable to protect, unable to save. How many will die because you didn't think that someone stronger than you was worth putting your all against?"

"Shut Up!"

Shirou allowed the swords surrounding Todoroki to vanish from existence, the sword crafter turning his back to the foe on the ground. "You have been bested, beaten and disgraced for the whole world to see, all because you thought you could waltz through life without even lifting your left hand. Pathetic!"

"SHUT UP!"

The temperature in the arena skyrocketed from the frosty feeling that had crept through the stands as a torrent of flames exploded upwards. Turning his head to look over his shoulder, Shirou was able to see that Todoroki was forcing himself up to his feet, the inferno rippling off of his entire left torso. "I will be a hero!" he proclaimed, his voice carrying to every corner of the stadium.

"SHOTOOOOO! So you've finally accepted yourself have you? Good! Excellent! Now this is your true beginning! You who holds my blood..."

Shirou didn't particularly care about who was shouting out in the peanut gallery, launching a dagger at breathtaking speeds that whizzed past their heads and drove itself into the concrete stairs. "What a bold move that was completely uncalled for!" shouted Present Mic, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. "Your student is toast, do you hear me, toast!"

Aizawa, for all intents and purposes, wanted to rub at his eyes but he knew the next few moments here would be etched into history. For better or for worse. Whatever was said would be the talk of the country for weeks to come.

"Be quiet up there, the lesson isn't over yet."

Definitely for worse.

Todoroki couldn't help the stunned look that had come over his face as he looked at the back of Shirou, openly gobsmacked that someone had spoken back to the number two hero in such a fashion! Had spoken to his father in such a fashion!

"Congratulations Todoroki, you've finally decided that you want to take this seriously," said Shirou, turning to face the burning student.

"This is what you wanted," accused Todoroki, knowing that his words were true. "Now, be prepared to deal with the consequences."

"Please, I have dealt with far worse heats than this," scoffed Shirou. "Plus you're inexperienced with it. You can't even think now that you've decided to actually embrace this power that you have given yourself an advantage? I had a counter move for your ice, do you even believe that I wouldn't have a counter for fire?"

Todoroki paused as he listened to what was being said. Did Shirou have a weapon able to counter fire? He wouldn't have even contemplated such a thing if he hadn't seen him produce a weapon that would shield him from heat. How could a weapon shield someone from ice in the first place? Thoughts for another time as Shirou lifted his hand into the air, only for what seemed to be his favorite weapon of choice to appear in his hand.

"Now, in the coming days you will join the rest of your peers in my class," instructed Shirou. "I will be treating you no differently than them because like them you are nothing special. I will break you down and make you rethink your entire fighting style."

"What makes you think that I need your help?" asked Todoroki.

Instead of answering verbally, Shirou charged forward. Todoroki reacted, his left arm stretching forward sending a plume of flames at Shirou. In an amazing display of evasion, Shirou dropped to the ground, sliding on his knees as he arched his back to avoid the dangerous flames mere inches from his face. His first blow struck Todoroki's leg, enough strength in the blow to drop him to a knee and temporarily prevent him from conjuring his flames. In swift movement, Shirou was able to spring up and turn in a single motion, striking Todoroki again but this time across the side of the head.

If the initial blow wasn't enough to knock out Todoroki, his head bouncing off the floor was more than enough for darkness to overcome his being. A handful of seconds ticked by before Midnight reacted, raising her hand high up in the air. Shirou didn't pay any attention to his name being called out, nor did he care as the crowd applauded him.

There was an angry woman on the sidelines wanting him to get his wounds taken care of. From experience, he knew better than to keep them waiting.

...

All Might found himself in a precarious situation at the award ceremony. What should have been a prestigious occasion felt rather bleak. Of the three people capable of receiving medals for their efforts in today's events, only the third place getter was capable of being there. Todoroki was still unable to attend due to not having regained consciousness and Shirou was in the care of Recovery Girl who essentially refused to allow him to come out until she deemed him fit to walk again. From experience, he knew that may be a substantial amount of time.

That left Bakugo in third position, the student who had faced Todoroki uncomfortable with even thinking about claiming the third place form himself having been defeated in a manner of seconds. Despite having claimed third place in the competition, he looked dejected and dispirited, as if having only gotten third place amongst all of his peers was only as good as having come last.

Yeah...this really wasn't what he was expecting at the start of the day.

...

Cleansing the blade of the blood spilt across it, the villain sat upon the rooftop overlooking the city. Whether his latest victim lived or died, he cared not. He was not the one who would stop him.

There was only one Hero who could bring him to justice. The one currently being treated down in the streets by the paramedics was not the one. "You bastards don't just get it," he grumbled. "Veiled in vanity and hypocrisy, your society is twisted. Distorted. You want to call yourselves heroes? I will make you face reality!"

"I've been looking for you Hero Slayer, or should I say Stain?"

His katana was swiftly unsheathed and pointed at the shadowy figure who had approached him from behind. He didn't like being surprised, let alone by somebody who was actually looking for him.

"Hold your blade," the shadowy figure said without moving from the weapon now pointed at their very being. "We share similar interests. I had been wanting to meet someone of your notoriety. Would you grace me with but a moment of your time?"

Stain looked at the person before him and the portal that emanated behind him. Even if it was a trap, he was more than confident in his skills to be able to fend off whatever was thrown his way. Unless he was on the other side. The one he wanted to meet. The one he wanted to clash blades with. The one who had to fall by his hands.

The one called Archer.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**With that the tournament is finally done. You have no idea how happy I am that it is over. Now, to move on to the next phase.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

**...**

"I'd tell you to take better care of yourself but I feel you'd ignore my words regardless," said Recovery Girl as Shirou sat up, his wounds stitched together. "You could take some time to rest and recover but I know you won't. If you tear these wounds, know that I will not be the one to heal you."

"I expect no less," said Shirou, stretching his shoulders.

"I will make the bold assumption that Eraser Head will allow your class a couple days of rest, he's probably proud of all your performances but won't say anything," said Recovery Girl as Shirou got to his feet. "He's stubborn like that, like somebody else whose name I won't mention."

Shirou chuckled lightly as he made his way to the door. "I'll try to stay away from here."

"Make sure that you do!"

Shirou exited the infirmary, or at least tried to as he pushed the door open to find himself completely surrounded by members of the media who seemed to be waiting with baited breath. Slowly, Shirou closed the door, locking himself back in the infirmary with Recovery Girl. "Have they been waiting there the whole time?" he asked of the elderly nurse.

"Of course they have, they want to hear from the winner of the tournament regardless of what condition he is in. Do you think you're the only one who doesn't care about your wellbeing?" scoffed Recovery Girl. "They're ravenous, don't think you can get out of here without giving a statement."

"Right," said Shirou slowly before bringing in an intake of breath. Having spent as much time as he had in having kept to the shadows hidden from society, it felt odd that the press were right in his face ready to ask him questions. It was bizarre because he didn't have to hide anything really so long as he used their terminology.

Was it the right thing to do however? He contemplated thinking about what Rin would have him do in this situation but considering what he had said to her earlier, he felt as if it was his time to shake things up a little more.

Opening the door, Shirou stepped through before closing the door, separating him from his immediate way out. Thankfully the media were giving him a wide berth despite how large in number they were. "Now, I am willing to answer a couple of questions..."

The noise hit him hard and fast, almost impossible to distinguish who was saying what. Raising a single hand, he ushered for them to be quiet. It took a small amount of time but the message eventually was received and there was silence through the hall once more. As opposed to allowing them to bombard him with a cacophony of noise once more, Shirou merely indicated for a young female journalist in front of him to speak. "How much pain were you in going into the final bout?"

"Nothing I haven't dealt with before," said Shirou with a shrug. That was about as honest as he could be on the topic. He had fought through with a lot worse injuries than a hole through the stomach. He turned his eyes to another reporter and indicated for them to ask.

"Do you believe that you've sent a bad message to young children aspiring to be heroes by having fought in the final round without having received medical attention for your injuries?"

"I like to think that I may have shown a glimpse of what isn't widely publicized about being a hero," said Shirou. "No matter the damage they take, true heroes will do what is best for the people around them. Yet when they go home, when they are out of the public spotlight is when they are finally free to let it all go. Their pain, anguish, despair; all emotions which would tarnish their public image. Nobody truly knows how they act behind closed doors. Perhaps they bury their pain under large amounts of pain medication washed down with vodka? If you can prove me wrong then by all means do so."

The squeamish looks he was receiving told Shirou that he was dancing on a very delicate topic. Of course he was. The people of this world worshipped the vast number of heroes who made their lives safer. To paint them as mere humans was almost blasphemous. It was true though, after all the power and all the bravado, they were people no different than anybody else.

Quickly checking the time, Shirou spoke and broke the eerie silence that had swept over the reporters. "While I'm sure there are many more things that you would like to ask, I must get to class."

"But school is just about finished for the day..."

"I still have to teach my class before the day is done," stated Shirou. The look of confusion sent his way forced Shirou to continue. "I teach my peers one on one combat training on the side."

"So you're going to continue fighting despite the condition you are in?"

"If I was all that stood between yourself and a villain, would you want me to stop because of an injury?"

His words hung in the air as he made his way through the crowd, the flashing lights from cameras crashing against his face. He paid them no mind though. The fact there were likely more lessons to be taught before the day was done was his current priority.

...

As the final bell for the day sounded, the Class of 1-A took a moment to let the whole situation of the day sink in. The entire experience had seemed to go by so quickly that it was difficult for them to process everything that had happened. It also didn't help that one of their peers had had to go due to a family emergency, something which left a sour taste in the rest of the class.

The first to move from their seat just so happened to be the runner up of the tournament and the only person who had actually been able to receive their medal. To say that some of the class were surprised to see Todoroki actually walk to the front of the class and turn to face his peers. "Where does Shirou hold his class?"

The words seemed to weigh some manner of confusion amongst the other members of class. For the first few seconds, many of them wished to state that there was no chance that Shirou would conceivably be holding his lessons today. Then they had to remind themselves that this was Shirou that they were talking about. The man who had deliberately avoided medical assistance in order to combat Todoroki in the final. The odds of Shirou not waiting for them were unlikely and the punishment for opting not to go likely would put whatever suffering they went through today to shame.

"You guys aren't really thinking about going are you?" shouted Mineta, slamming his hands on the table. "We just had to go through so many hellish trials in front of the world and now you want to all go suffer some more? We deserve a break!"

Surprisingly, it was their homeroom teacher to speak in Mineta's defence. "You make a good point, and you all should know what your limits are. There will be times however when your limits will be pushed, they will be put to breaking point. Your mettle as a hero will be measured by how well you respond in situations that make you unable to perform at your peak. Some heroes are physically unable to handle certain situations; Kamui Woods for example cannot handle any situation where fire is involved without putting his own life at severe risk. Mount Lady can only be effective in wide open spaces. These are times when the help of other heroes are necessary."

"Then there are the times where all that is needed is your own determination to see it through," continued Aizawa. "Snipe for instance is a long range specialist, however he pushed himself to be capable of conflict at small distances in order to reduce his weaknesses. Every hero knows what they are and are not able to do. That doesn't mean that they are unable to better themselves in order to have the chance to save one more person."

With his piece being said, Aizawa made his exit, his words hanging over the class. Once the sound of footsteps had vanished, the class came to a single unanimous conclusion. It wasn't a difficult one, but it was one that would ensure an incredible amount of suffering.

...

"Remember, no quirks," declared Shirou, pacing between the pairs. "We are working on basics."

True to what Recovery Girl wished for him, Shirou was taking it easy, at least for this opening part of the session. At the moment there were three fights happening around him and the students were understandably nervous about having to combat one another without the use of their abilities. That being said though, none of them were going to question Shirou's methods.

Midoriya found himself panting as his opponent bounced off the floor. Understandably, Sero was more of a long range capture fighter, so getting up close and personal was something he was relatively unfamiliar with. It had been an unfair matchup from the get go but Shirou had done so deliberately. Both the other matches were set up in such a way with Asui struggling against Ashido and Sato manhandling Aoyama, the laser shooting student trying desperately to remain out of grasp.

"Sero, out. Kaminari, in," ordered Shirou, the students doing as instructed, with Midoriya bracing himself to face his new opponent. He continued to watch the combat around him play out, Ashido overexerting herself in what should have been a finishing blow and leaving herself open for a counter. Sato meanwhile had caught his slippery opponent and Aoyama was begging for his peer to strike him anywhere but the face.

Sato obliged and struck him in the sternum.

"Aoyama, out. Koda, in."

On and on, Shirou swapped the students in and out trying to make the contests as unfair as possible. When the victors started getting tired, he'd push in one of the stronger competitors to keep the contest as viciously one sided as possible. Life was unfair and he was pushing that thought right into the minds of his opponents.

It was in these unfair situations that upsets occur.

There was almost a collective gasp as Bakugo hit the ground, Tokoyami standing over him. "Now, what have learnt today?" asked Shirou of those watching, Bakugo wiping at his chin with the back of his hand.

"That we get tired you shit stain!"

"As Bakugo has kindly pointed out, yes, we all get exhausted whether it is after one fight or Midoriya's fourteen fight streak," said Shirou, the boy in question mildly blushing from the praise sent his way. "Stamina is not something which appears overnight, it takes months upon months of consistent effort in order to better yourself. Many of you before today may not have even been hit in such a long time."

A few people couldn't help but send a not so subtle glance at Todoroki, a bruise having formed on his cheek from where Shoji had struck him earlier. Shirou started pacing in front of everyone, his arms held behind his back. "You don't know what situations you are going to find yourself in, what condition you will have to keep going in. The tournament is one example of when you have to pick yourself up in whatever condition you were in to keep on fighting, regardless of what condition your opponent is in. You also have to consider that anything you show will be seen by everybody who is paying attention."

"Even if you aren't aware they are there."

With his final words said, Shirou looked upwards to where two people were standing in the support beams. While they may have looked momentarily shocked by having been discovered in the first place, it was nothing to the horror that some of the students had on their face at having their private lesson viewed. That was until they recognized the two people who had been watching.

The first one was easily recognizable as the upperclassmen, the only female member of the Big Three who had made themselves known when Shirou had fought against Mirio. The other was someone a little more famous, one whom Midoriya immediately recognized to the point his jaw literally dropped.

With their presence having been revealed, Nejire and her mentor Ryuko dropped to the floor safely with the assistance of Nejire's quirk. "I'm surprised you noticed we were here," she said as she walked towards Shirou, the rest of the first year students who had been on the floor battling one another moving to join their peers on the sidelines. Whatever conflict that came forward they wanted no part of it.

Why did they know there would be conflict? The answer was simple. Shirou was standing against one of the top ten heroes in the country. How could there not be a battle brewing?

"Regardless if I noticed you or not, this is a closed session for training practices and unless you have something valuable to teach then I will have to ask you to leave," said Shirou.

Ryuko shifted her gaze from where Shirou was standing to where the rest of his peers were lined up, Nejire having bounced over to join them. "You think that you can teach them more than I can?" she asked. Though she had never taught officially, taking care of Nejire at times couldn't be too dissimilar to trying to control an entire class. "I have far more real world experience than you have and could tell them of some of the issues they may confront in the day to day activities of a hero."

This was a game of bravado, it was clear to see. "Real world experience," repeated Shirou, scratching at his chin. In his current form, there was no way that Ryuko was little more than a decade older than him, if that. He had lived a lifetime in conflict and battle, doing his best to save as many as he could. He couldn't explain to her the wars he had walked through but he knew they had been far worse than anything she had ever suffered.

So, he did as he did and stepped on to the middle of the makeshift arena.

Ryuko turned to face him before chuckling. It was a simple play he made and one that she had to respond to. "I will not fight you," she said as she sauntered forward to stand opposite him. "You might have performed admirably, if not foolishly, in the competitions today but let me tell you; you are no match for me."

"Well then, you will grant me a single shot then, no swords or fancy weapons, just one punch is all," gauded Shirou. "Then if you think me worthy of retaliation or need to simply get some manner of feedback, I will take any blow you send my way."

Ryuko thought about it for a few moments, sending a single glance towards those watching. Were she to simply say no it would display some manner of weakness, that she was afraid to take a blow from somebody who shouldn't have actually competed in the final due to health reasons. Best case scenario, she simply stand her ground, take the blow and then give him a playful slap in the shoulder to show the difference in class.

So she accepted.

Then the next thing she knew her back was on the floor and she was gasping for air.

"That is what happens when you underestimate an opponent," said Shirou, addressing the other students who seemed to be at a loss of what had happened. He didn't blame them. As far as they were aware, he was somebody who had strength enough to wield around the weapons that he crafted with his quirk. The strength to launch a body across a surface, bouncing twice across the ground before was something that seemed impossible for someone with his ability.

He really needed to break them out of the stupor they found themselves in every time he did something unbelievable.

"Real world experiences," continued Shirou as he started to pace back and forth. "They are invaluable and something that cannot be constructed in this environment. In this academy they can try to simulate as many experiences as possible but that is all they are. Simulations. You need to take every opportunity to gaze at the real world and question what's happening beyond the limelight. The hero walks out on top, at what cost? Have they sustained injuries, are they having trouble breathing, do they need to seek immediate medical assistance? Do they even have the luxury to do so? Has another crisis arisen or have they yet to finish what it was they had started? These are questions that rarely get asked. You watch the hero walk out successfully and praise them for a job well done and that's all."

He let his words hang in the air as he turned his attention back to Ryuko, the member of the top ten whom he had fell with a single strike. He needed to break his peers' ideology of worship, the idea that people at the top were invincible. Nobody was unbeatable. He had watched true heroes from different etches of legend clash and there always had to be a victor, and there always had to be a loser. Watching somebody whose name was written in the very core of history, whose names would be remembered until the end of time, fall in battle was a terrifying thing to come to terms with.

Nobody was invincible.

Nobody.

Now he had to do something which he knew would cause more trouble than it was worth but he could already see some worship come his way and he needed to show that even he was not invincible. Taking off his shirt, for a few seconds he could see some looks of curiosity but he cared not.

The one thing about having been brought back into this point of life, this body that he had found himself in was that it wasn't the same as he had had at the age. He hadn't simply become a teenager again, he had found his body simply regress in age. Which meant that all of his battle wounds had come back with him.

All of them.

From the corner of his vision he could see Ryuko raise a hand to her mouth to cover the shock that was now very apparent on her face. Mineta had seemingly gone into shock, Midoriya had fallen backwards and Aoyama looked as if he was to expel whatever it was he had eaten for lunch. Nobody was unaffected by the wounds that he carried on his skin.

He imagined that many of them were gaping at the wound which he had first received, the first time he had come into conflict with a true hero. The wound which had pierced straight through his heart.

"Real life experiences," said Shirou slowly as one of his classmates successfully emptied their stomach, painting the gymnasium floor with bile. "In this profession you will suffer and suffer greatly, of that there is no doubt. Compared to this, I pray that each and every one of you never have to deal with what I have gone through."

Shirou felt that this was as good a time as any to call the lesson over for the day, making his way towards the exit, putting his shirt back on as he walked. He knew he had left them in shock and they would never verbally thank him for the lesson he had just taught them. It was a lesson that the academy likely never would have taught them despite the very obvious danger that the occupation brought with it.

As he exited the gymnasium, leaving all of his peers behind him, his phone started ringing. Pulling it out of his pocket and bringing it to his ear, he answered casually. "Hello, who is this?"

"_Hello, Shirou, it's...it's Charming Clover," _ said the voice on the other side of the line.

It took him several seconds before he recalled the name as a member of the agency that he had gone to back before school had even begun. "Okay, Charming Clover, what's this about?" asked Shirou, wondering why she was calling him.

"_It's Ingenium,"_ started Charming Clover, taking a deep breath. "_We need your help."_

"Help?" repeated Shirou.

"_Ingenium's in hospital, he's in a bad way,"_ replied Charming Clover, sounding as if she was openly sobbing over the other side of the line.

"So what do you want me to do about it?" asked Shirou.

"_This is...this is completely off any sort of record," _said Charming Clover, desperation riddled within her voice. There was an off pause and Shirou could feel that what was going to be said next was something which wasn't being said lightly.

"_We...we want you to kill Stain."_

Shirou paused in his step, wondering if he had heard that correctly. When nothing was said that corrected him otherwise he took in a slow breath. This was clearly an act that had to go under the radar. He may have only been in this world for so long but criminals always had to be brought to justice and taken to prison as far as he could tell. The idea of the heroes of this world actively wishing death upon a villain was something he couldn't quite get his head around. Chances were that this was an overreaction to the fact something had happened to the head of the agency that they worked for. If he was to give them a day or two to cool their heads the request may very well be completely different.

There was one other thing on his mind though.

"Who's Stain?"

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

**...**

Shirou walked into his little homestead with a lot of things on his mind. As mildly expected, once he had gotten all of the details out of Charming Clover he recognized her wishing for him to kill someone as an overreaction. Sure she and likely many of the sidekicks that Ingenium employed were feeling similar feelings having heard that their leader was crippled after having come into contact with the enemy but Shirou had given it little thought. To start with at least.

All it had been was that one of the heroes of this world had chased after a villain they were ill equipped to face. Shirou wasn't aware of all the details per say but if Ingenium had lost he could gain some layout of the villain. Ingenium had been a speed based hero which meant that if he had been bested then it was by somebody who was faster. To cripple though, also meant they were strong. Charming Clover had listed off numbers regarding how many people said villain had left hospitalized and how many heroes had ended up dead at his hand.

These were figures that Shirou cared little for.

Ingenium meanwhile had been someone in Shirou's life in this town, from having battled him atop the unit that he and Rin had shared to being requested to help his sidekicks upgrade their talents. Would he honor the request to kill someone? Probably not, he wasn't that kind of person. Would he try to save that person...well that is something only time would tell.

There was one other person he was planning on saving but in order to do so he would have to be away from the school for a while, which of course meant asking Rin for a favor. He'd give it a little while yet before telling her what he had planned, give her that little extra time to vent out any lingering frustrations she had. He knew that she would be coming over for dinner anyways so he simply had to wait for her to come to him.

Speaking of dinner, time had been creeping up and he needed to start planning what it was he was going to cook up tonight.

...

Bakugo stared at the ceiling as he lay on his bed, his hands tucked beneath his head. Downstairs he could hear his mother fighting with the kitchen equipment but as loud as it was, it wasn't what was on his mind. If he had to guess, not only he but everybody else who had witnessed the vision that now clouded his thoughts were likely thinking very similar thoughts.

The real world hadn't just been shown to them today, it had been forced in their face. Shirou's strength wasn't something that should be idolized by any stretch of the imagination. The strength was a necessity, brought about by a life of violence. Had he not been as strong as he was, chances were that he wouldn't have been standing with them there today.

Raising a single hand into his line of sight, Bakugo clenched his hand into a fist. He wanted to become the number one hero, the most coveted spot there was in the world. He had been told from a young age that he was destined for greatness with the strength of his quirk. He had been the first person from his school to have been expected into U.A, outside of Deku which of course didn't count.

At a young age it had all been a fancible dream, an impossible goal which was always theoretically just out of reach. Now though he knew that it was only difficult to reach because of what one needed to go through to get there.

He had been saved once in his life, against the sludge scum that had attacked him months before he had started his education at U.A. Deku might have been stupid to jump in but All Might had come to his aid and helped him get away from that slime bastard. At the time, that had been the closest thing he had come to defeat.

How many battles had Shirou suffered through by that stage? How many times had he suffered cuts, welts, bruises, broken bones and so much more? Were they all defeats or were some marks of victory emblazoned onto his body? Did he have the opportunity to flee or was cowardice never an option to begin with?

Then there was the terrifying thought which he couldn't shake from his mind. Having been bested by Shirou in several different circumstances now, he knew just how tough the bastard was. Even the fact that he refused to seek medical assistance after having a hole blown through his stomach was a testament to that. So how strong were the people that had left permanent marks on Shirou's body?

If every mark had come from a different opponent, how many villains out there were capable of going against Shirou in such a way that he would be injured so? How easily could such a villain wipe the absolute floor against any of the other members of his class? They were meant to be the next batch of heroes who would protect the city and it's citizens from harm, but they wouldn't last more than a few seconds at best.

It was the first time he was coming to the realization that for every strong hero, there was likely just as strong a villain. It was a terrifying thought but one which made sense. Every hero that was idolized had a single moment in the career which made them the star that they were. Whether it was a stellar debut or combating a foe which had bested a number of other heroes, every hero had at least one moment to their name which made them known by the populace. It also meant that there was a chance that just as strong a villain was feared throughout the land whose name was only ever mentioned in hushed whispers.

While Bakugo had been pushing himself hard to prepare himself for the tournament, now that it was over didn't mean that he was going to stop pushing himself. As he was, there was no way that he was ready for what the real world had in store. There was only a limited amount of time before he would be thrust out for the world to see. He had to make sure that none of that time went to waste.

...

Shirou sat in the dining room, watching the food he had presented go cold. It was well past the time that Rin should have arrived for dinner, even if she was still in a foul mood with him. If she was still fuming about what had happened earlier on, it was theoretically possible that she had tried to make her own dinner to spite him. Considering the last time she had tried to make herself something semi close to what he was able to whip up, the kitchen had looked like an absolute nightmare.

Allowing a sigh to escape his lips, Shirou stood up from the table and started to pack down the meal he had made, figuring out what he could save for later and what was destined for the bin. It was a bit of a waste but there wasn't much he could do for it. If Rin wanted to remain cooped up in her home then so be it. It wasn't his responsibility to look after her.

Placing the dirty dishes next to the sink, Shirou took a moment to look out the window to the darkness that was seeping over the city. Considering Rin wasn't going to be around to help him tonight it meant that he would have to get out of the compound himself. Hopefully Rin wasn't feeling spiteful enough to dob him in.

That was under the pretense that Rin was there in the first place.

...

Rin watched as the world around her zipped past her, the train sending her far away from Musutafu on the way towards Yokohama City. She had packed relatively light and had gotten out by blending in with the crowd. Considering she had used some of her magecraft to alter her appearance enough to draw attention away from her, she knew that nobody would be sending a second glance her way.

Was it childish to have left without a word? Some would honestly think so but then again, she didn't care about the opinions of the populace. She simply needed some time to herself, time far away from Shirou, the loveable idiot that he was.

Was what he did the right thing to do? Honestly, as much as the actual action and the eventual aftermath made her grind her teeth together, she didn't know. If studying at the Clock Tower had taught her anything was that no matter the path one travelled, one had to see it through until the end. Shirou had simply decided to go about getting to the end via a scenic route.

Rubbing at the bridge of her nose, Rin adjusted herself on the seat she was on. Like how Shirou had opted to change the path that he was one, she had opted to do the same. Shirou had found his place in the world, a little too easily for her liking but considering the world that they were in that was always going to happen. She however needed to find something in this world to push her forward, a goal to drive towards.

A scream from down the carriage caught her attention as two men wearing ski masks and brandishing pistols in the air demanded that everybody hand over their possessions. With Rin in the carriage however, not a single person lost a single belonging as both men collapsed to the floor with their consciousness temporarily gone. As the other patrons pondered what had just happened, Rin returned her viewpoint outside, watching as the flickering lights sped past.

Nobody needed to know that it was her who had rendered the men unconscious. She did her best work from the shadows after all.

...

Ryuko sat in the bar, the drink in her hand barely touched. With her spare hand she gingerly touched the spot she had been struck, the wound still stinging from where Shirou had hit her. Allowing a sigh to escape her lips, Ryuko had to admit that she had witnessed today strength, skill and pure grit in a teenager that wasn't present in most professional heroes.

And it scared her.

Shirou was still young but despite his young age he had clearly been through so much. Far too much. Despite the sufferings he had been through, she was aware that there were no known medical reports for Shirou which led her to believe that either he found assistance in unsavoury places regarding his health and wellbeing, or he dealt with it all on his own. Somehow she felt as if the second option was far more likely than the first.

Taking a sip from her drink, she could hear the chair next to her scrape across the floor as someone took a seat beside her. "You think you had it rough today," said Midnight as she joined Ryuko, noticing the slump she was in. "I got caught up in way too many of those fights. Those students need to learn how to keep others out of their battles."

"I know, I watched," said Ryuko, struggling to lift her eyes off of the table to look at the person opposite her. "These kids today..."

"I know what you mean," said Midnight, signalling for a nearby waiter to bring them a drink. "Give it another decade or so and we'll be in retirement."

"Provided he becomes a hero..."

Ryuko's words hung in the air, creating an uncomfortable silence between the two of them. Midnight knew where Ryuko was coming from. There was only one student who she could be talking about. Even being his teacher for Modern Art History, Midnight had been requested by the faculty to keep close attention to Shirou. In her class he barely paid any attention and from discussing with her fellow teachers, he seemed content to do enough to get by.

If he hadn't been strongarmed into joining the academy, it was scary to question just where he would be right now. That then brought about one other point which many of the faculty tried their best to ignore. He wasn't at the school by his own choice.

"You don't think..."

"Why wouldn't he?" said Ryuko, her hand clasping into a fist as she finally looked up at Midnight. "He is basically being kept there against his will. He and his friend would have preferred to be anywhere else than U.A and if they hadn't originally been discovered, they'd likely still be living a normal life somewhere."

"You've done your research," said Midnight as her drink was placed on the table.

"With that in mind, what's going to happen when he graduates? Is he actually going to become a hero when he had no interest in it in the first place? Do you guys have any sort of plan in place if he decides to go rogue?"

"Don't you even think along those lines..."

"Or what?" said Ryuko, slamming her fist on the table hard enough to silence the rest of the venue. "Face it, if he wanted to be anywhere else, he would have already left. He was able to fight off heroes in the street as if it was a walk in the park, do you really think that he would care if he left and was branded as a villain? He wouldn't even do anything! Judging by what I have seen, he would try and find work in a place where they have his wanted poster on the wall and he wouldn't care!"

Several seconds passed before Ryuko realized that there were no other sounds coming from those surrounding her. Using this opportunity to finish her beverage, she placed the empty glass down on the table before standing up and looking down at the professional hero sitting opposite her. "He is dangerous, I've felt it first hand," she said as her fingers reached up to touch at her injury. "If you guys aren't careful then I pray that there is someone out there who can stop him."

Midnight could do nothing as Ryuko walked away and she knew that while she hated to admit it, she had a point. The fact that the words were being said by one of the top ten heroes in the country made her message all the more devastating. Having had to stand at ringside while Shirou was wiping the floor against all those who stood against him she had seen first hand what he was capable of and even then there was a high chance he hadn't been going all out. With the power he wielded at his disposal, if he was tempted to turn to villainy he had the strength possible to decimate all but a few heroes she could think of. The kid could craft deadly weapons and send them off at a blistering pace with nothing but a thought.

Ryuko was right; Shirou's quirk was a dangerous one. Considering how well trained he was in utilizing it as well added to the frightening thoughts. Then there was the other part of his quirk, the part that they had had no knowledge of until the day and a part which had been heavily discussed behind closed doors after the tournament had finished.

With a quirk that could craft weapons into existence with a thought with no apparent consequences, what kind of weapon was he summoning that had made an entire stadium stand on edge? Not only their stadium, those in the other arenas had been thrown off their game as they too had been subjected to whatever power Shirou had been emitting.

Ryoku had definitely made some good points and bringing up some of those comments to the principal wouldn't be a terrible idea. Crafting any sort of contingency plan would likely be discussed as well as a consequence for speaking with the head of the academy. In those theoretical discussions the idea that her quirk could be utilized first and foremost in order to render Shirou unconscious would likely be brought up.

If he wasn't asleep instantly, his retribution would likely be swift, painful and full of vengeance. If this theoretical path was the one they went down, however unlikely it may be, she knew that her own life was in jeopardy.

...

Tensei awoke to the sounds of the machines surrounding him, monitoring his condition. His eyes could barely crack open the slightest of margins but he could tell from the darkness surrounding him that it was the middle of the night.

Which only made the fact that he could barely make out a shadow of a person standing at the foot of his bed all the more terrifying.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to put you out of your misery," they said, noticing his awakened state. In their hand they held a clipboard, analyzing the data written on there despite how difficult it was to see at that moment in time.

"W...Who..."

"Save your strength," they said, silencing Tensei before he worked himself up. "I can imagine when you heard that you'd never have use of your legs again it broke you more than the actual damage to your body. A hero who was able to rush to the aid of others, unable to walk again."

Tensei swallowed at a lump that had formed in his throat, knowing that the person sitting in front of him was speaking the truth. Hearing the extent of the damage that had been done, he had temporarily wished that Stain had had the decency to finish him off.

"You know Ingenium," said the stranger as he put down the clipboard and started moving towards the side of the bed. "I received a call from one of your sidekicks asking me to hunt down and kill the person who did this to you. Don't worry, I've scolded them for their words and I figured they were just running off the adrenaline."

"What...are you..."

"That I guess is the big question isn't it," they said as they stopped so they looked directly down at Tensei's prone body. "Tell me, Ingenium, what would you give to be able to walk again?"

Tensei's eyes widened at the words. Did the person in front of him have some sort of medicinal quirk that could heal such devastating wounds? "Anything," he said, hope riddled in his voice.

"Never say anything," they retorted, seemingly unhappy with the answer. "If I was a vindictive person, I could tell you that the cost of being able to walk again would be to kill your younger brother when next he visited. Now, try again. What would you give to be able to walk again?"

Tensei found his mind going into high alert. Not only did this person quite literally have every possible advantage over him but he knew of his brother. Someone had clearly done their research. "I...I would give...my life to my job...to still...be a hero...to help all...that I can."

Several seconds ticked by as the person standing above him contemplated the answer that he had been given. "Well said," they stated as they lifted their hand up only for something to materialize in their palm. "When I'm done, not only will you be able to walk again, but you will be able to run. You will be able to be a hero once more."

...

**Hope you enjoyed**


	23. Chapter 23

**To the reviewers ripping me a new one, I'd like to remind you that I am not a professional author. I do this because I enjoy it. Simple as that. If people enjoy the ride along the way then all the better.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

**...**

Shirou looked out the window at the rain careening down outside, the dreary atmosphere completely opposite to the feelings of his peers currently in class awaiting their homeroom teacher. The banter they spoke amongst one another surrounded the fact of how they had been recognized by the populace for their performances regarding the Sports Festival. Had he actually stepped off the campus at any time that would be dictated as normal, he too might have been acknowledged for his actions. Since he only went out exploring through the cover of night, he was highly confident that nobody would have noticed him

The chaos in the room swiftly subsided as Aizawa stepped in, many of the students not wanting to get on his bad side so early in the morning. "Morning," he mumbled, paying little attention to the response that the students gave him in response. "This morning's hero informatics period is a little special. It's time to formulate your codenames, your hero names."

The students in the class exploded in enthusiasm and Shirou almost found himself covering his ears from the noise that assaulted him. It was understandable as to why they were excited. In this society it was evident that a hero whose name was recognized by the populace was a hero whom people could look up to.

Temporarily ignoring Aizawa as he continued, Shirou thought back to the names of the heroes that he had combatted against back in the Holy Grail War. While Berserker, Rider, Caster and the rest were the class they were assigned to and the title they were referred to as, it wasn't their name. Their names were still the ones that had been given to them by their parents. True it was a different dimension and a different time, but it was something that Shirou acknowledged as true heroism, simply to be known by their name and the actions they undertook.

"Now, the tally of nominations," announced Aizawa. "Typically the results are more balanced but this year it was clear where the attention was leading to."

Shirou couldn't help but scoff. There he was, at the top of the leaderboard with thousands of agencies wanting him to temporarily work under their wing. More likely than not it would just be to get some manner of prestige, to have the winner of the competition as part of their team even if it was for only a temporary measure of time.

Shirou allowed his eyes to drift to the bottom of the leaderboard where Midoriya sat with three nominations, despite the fact that he hadn't made it past the first obstacle. Clearly he had proven something in the brief period of time that he had had. There were some names missing from the leaderboard in general, students having missed out on making a statement to those watching.

"Based on this," stated Aizawa, his gaze drifting over the class. "Regardless of whether or not you received any nominations, I'll be having you go get some so called Work Experience. With that being said, the lot of you have already experienced far more than your peers and have taken a glimpse of the world of pros. But I think experiencing the activities of pros firsthand will be more fruitful training than before."

"And because of that we need hero names!" shouted Sato, pumping his fist.

Shirou returned his attention to the rain pouring outside of the window, barely caring as another member of the faculty entered the room and began pandering the importance of names. He really could not wait for this class to end.

...

Midnight continued evaluating the names the students of 1-A presented before her. Some had needed much alteration while others had been simply perfect. With the recently named Uravity returning to her seat, Midnight acknowledged those who had yet to present. "All that's left are Bakugo's revision and then the names of Iida, Midoriya and Emiya."

While Iida and Midoriya seemed to be overthinking their choice, she was worried to see that Shirou had yet to touch the whiteboard that had been handed out at the beginning. Ryoku's words from the other night rang in her mind once more. If he didn't have to be here, Shirou wouldn't be here. Why would he designate himself a hero name if he had no aspirations to become a hero?

The sound of a student standing up caused Midnight to shift her attention away from the student whom she was concerned about. Iida marched forward towards the front of the class in an almost robotic fashion. Once at the front, he turned to face his peers. "As many of you are aware, my brother, the hero Ingenium, was hospitalized from having faced a villain," he said, not showing his name just yet. "The initial reports indicated that he might never walk again and knowing such, he asked me to take his name. Last night I was left wondering if I could uphold such a legacy, to be the new Ingenium. Then this morning, we heard news from the hospital that a miracle had happened. My brother, who had had no feeling in his legs, was seen walking the hospital halls. We don't know how this happened, we don't know why and I don't know if I could have been able to take on my brother's name. With that being said, I will do my best I can be, as the Rapid Hero: Imperium!"

It was odd, far stranger than many of his peers who had stepped up before him to present their hero names. When a slow clap rang out however it was all worth it. Midnight herself had not even been aware that Ingenium had been administered to hospital, let alone with such devastating wounds. To hear that he was healthy once more was wonderful to hear.

Turning her attention back to the class, she watched as Midoriya walked forward having decided on his name. While he went on a spiel, explaining why he had chosen his name, her eyes focused once more on Emiya who seemed to be in his own little world. Chances were that he hadn't paid attention to a single name that had been delivered to the class.

As Midoriya returned to his seat, the name 'Deku' having been given for all to see, the rest of the class seemed curious as to what name would come next. A few curious glances were sent across the room as the students tried to catch a glimpse of what Shirou would produce. To see that he had yet to even touch his whiteboard which only caused some whispers to pop up.

"Hey man," said Kaminari, feeling the need to add a suggestion to Shirou. "What about Arsenal? I mean you're basically a walking armory."

This of course resulted in Kirishima chiming in. "Nah, Blacksmith would be much cooler."

"Please, he should be called Slice and Dice."

"What are you talking about? If Shirou is going to be called anything it's going to be..."

"Nothing."

"Nothing, see...wait, what?"

Mineta's current state of confusion was mirrored by the rest of those in attendance, whose curious glances were now direct stares at the person who had demolished the tournament the previous day. Allowing a sigh to escape his lips, Shirou turned his head so that he could address the students gaping at him. "The heroes I aspire to are known by the legend they left behind, heroes whose names will never be forgotten no matter how much time has passed," he explained. "I don't deserve to be acknowledged amongst the heroes of old and I will not sully their reputation by pretending to play hero."

His words struck like a knife and silence reigned supreme. There was a lot to digest out of what he had just said and it felt as if he was almost a different person, as if something had drastically changed in his life since after he had won the tournament. Then there was the mention of that despite his incredible power, he didn't even compare himself to the champions of a bygone era.

"Detention," declared Midnight, her gaze firm on the student in her line of sight. It was a harsh punishment in retrospect but she had her instructions from the higher up members of the faculty. She had been ordered to try and ensure that she, along with the rest of the members of staff available, would be able to break the news to Shirou in an environment where the rest of the students wouldn't be in harm's way. It was a worse case scenario but it was better to be prepared.

Now she had to brace herself for how Shirou would react to having been issued detention. Surprisingly he didn't act out, he didn't shout how unjust the punishment was and didn't even turn his attention back to the window. Instead, Shirou turned his attention to somebody else in the class. "Midoriya, you're in charge of training after class with Yaoyozoru's assistance in crafting anything you feel is necessary."

"Me? What? Why?" stammered Midoriya, clearly having not expected this in the slightest.

"You honestly think that you haven't been spotted mumbling after every training session?" said Shirou with a raised eyebrow. "It's time to stop keeping all of your notes to yourself and share some of your knowledge."

"Umm, yes, of course," said Midoriya, less than convincingly.

With that, Shirou turned his attention back towards the window creating a sense of unease amongst the students and faculty members. This of course was all shattered as Bakugo marched to the front and proclaimed that his hero name would be 'Baron of Explodo-Kills,' which understandably, didn't stick.

...

Stain was resting, perched atop the rooftop that he had been teleported to after negotiations broke down. Perhaps it had been for that reason that instead of finding himself back in his hunting ground of Hosu, he had been spat out here, wherever here was. It looked familiar but it wasn't as if he could wander up to the nearest travel guide and get some intel on the place.

This of course meant that he would get some information another way.

Scanning the horizon, focused eyes spotted another person standing atop a roof a little distance away. A female by the looks of things who looked as if they should have been sitting in class right about now. A wry smile spread across his lips as he started moving, curious how the woman he had spotted would react to his presence.

With speed and skill forged by determination and grit, the Hero Killer leapt from rooftop to rooftop with grace. Due to the layout of the city, he hadn't been able to take a direct route to his target but instead had had to circle around. Which of course meant that the following moments would be more entertaining as he landed on his target rooftop staring at the back of the woman whom had yet to move.

"Young lady, mind if I ask you a few questions?" he asked, awaiting the response he would get. It was oddly dissatisfying however that there seemed to be no sense of shock from the person that her personal space up here had been infiltrated. In fact, she only casually turned her head to acknowledge him and even then showed no signs of horror of the person standing upon the other side of the roof.

Maybe he was losing his touch.

"You may, however I don't know what answers I will be able to provide," they stated before turning their back on him once more. This of course, only served to annoy the person who had the blood of dozens of heroes on his hands.

Feeling irritated, Stain marched forward, the katana that he wielded upon his back now clutched in his hand. He wasn't going to kill the woman before him, she wasn't a hero who lacked conviction but some scare tactics in order to get the information he wanted seemed to be in order.

The blade of the katana thrust forward, deliberately missing her right shoulder by the smallest of margins. The speed of his thrust had blown several strands of hair away from the previous location and yet the woman didn't flinch nor tremor in fear from the weapon that so easily could have spilled her blood. Seemed that she had quite a bit of resolve.

"Now little lady, you will..."

That was all that Stain was able to say before pain surged through his body, every inch of his being feeling as if it was being struck by electricity coursing through his veins. The intense pain may have only lasted for a few seconds but he couldn't prevent himself from collapsing to his knees.

"Now that was rather rude of you now wasn't it," stated the woman who had not even turned to face him.

Grinding his teeth together, Stain tightened his grip on the weapon in his hand. He was feared throughout the land as one of the most terrifying villains out there. Nobody made a fool out of him! His weapon swung swift and true and as the tip of the blade threatened to pierce skin, his katana turned into sakura petals. His primary weapon, the steel he had utilized for so long, had turned into flower petals.

Still, he wasn't a renown villain for nothing and twin daggers swiftly found their way into the palms of his hands. Before he even had the chance to attack with them however he could only watch as the metal melted away, puddling at the ground just in front of him.

His mind swiftly went over a number of things that could be happening right now and divulged the theory that the person in front of him had a quirk that could reshape metal into anything they wished. It might have been a long shot and may have been well of track but in only a matter of seconds he had lost a good chunk of his arsenal and would likely lose more unless he got a handle on the situation.

Dropping the handles of his now useless weapons, Stain swung out with his fist just in the pure hope of dealing some manner of damage. In what seemed like pure luck, his attack struck true nailing the woman before him right in the lower ribs...only for him to retract his hand in pain, his knuckles feeling as if they had struck solid concrete.

"My, my, it seems you are out of tricks," they said, almost in a scolding tone before they moved, far faster than Stain had thought possible. A pair of arms found themselves wrapped around his waist before he was hoisted off of the ground, his torso still being clung to as he found the world revolving before his head crashed into the rooftop. A gurgled moan was all that escaped his lips before the Hero Killer found his consciousness slipping away.

The Hero Killer Stain, the man who had murdered seventeen professional heroes and crippled a further twenty three, had been defeated.

...

"I'm going to make the bold assumption this isn't how detentions usually go," said Shirou, crossing his arms across his chest as he looked at the members of the faculty standing before him. Had it been one, perhaps even two members of staff who were present it wouldn't have been surprising. Having half a dozen, including All Might, standing in line left him somewhat curious as to what he had done to deserve such treatment.

Standing atop the desk, Principal Nezu addressed the student standing before the faculty. "You're right, this isn't a detention in a traditional sense but we needed to speak with you privately," he said.

"You know you could have just come to my house and knocked on my door," said Shirou.

This only served to stir up Hound Dog who began to growl beneath his muzzle. Nezu spoke up again before his head of security did or said something foolish. "Be that as it may, we needed to discuss with you a couple of topics which would bode unwell to be heard by others."

Shirou's mind swiftly went into overdrive as he gathered some intel from the principal's comment that the diminutive figure likely hadn't intended to get out. "You think somebody's leaking details out into the public, or more specifically, villains," he said connecting dots together.

"That seems like a rather large leap in logic," declared All Might.

"Considering that attack that happened a few weeks ago, it really isn't," said Shirou before pointing at the number one hero. "The leaders even said that you were meant to be there according to the curriculum they acquired. Even on that day that the media got through the front door, they couldn't simply have wondered around the school for long enough to track down the exact piece of paper they were looking for. It got handed to them and you don't know who to trust."

"You were at the top of the list for a while," said Eraserhead, his gaze hardened on the person in front of him and prepared to activate his quirk at the first sign of trouble.

"I can picture that," said Shirou. "Sketchy background probably didn't help."

"Not to mention the fact that you clearly are more advanced than anybody your age," said Midnight. "Your skill with your quirk speaks of years of dedication to honing your ability to the best you could."

"Which is why we need to ascertain right now, just how strong you are," declared Ectoplasm.

"How strong I am," repeated Shirou. "Tell you what, why don't I show you? Tonight at eight in the gymnasium and I will show you just what I'm capable of."

The menacing smile that Shirou sent their way as he said that stirred some manner of fear into the heroes' beings.

"I'm sure that we will be there," declared Nezu. "On another bit of news, it would seem as if your friend missed class today and when we went to investigate her lodgings to see if she was unwell, it turned out that she wasn't there either. Would you happen to know where she may be?"

"Well we did have a bit of a falling out," admitted Shirou.

"Do you know anywhere she may have gone?" asked Midnight.

"If she has run off, then you won't be able to find her," declared Shirou matter of factly. "She'll return if she wants to but quite frankly if she wants to spend some time to herself I feel sorry for anybody who gets in her way."

"Regardless of where Miss Tohsaka may be right now, we have come to the conclusion that you will not be joining your peers working alongside the heroes in the weeks to come," declared Principal Nezu.

"Because I'm a flight risk," stated Shirou, reading between the lines.

"You catch on far too quick for my liking," said Eraserhead.

"If that is all, I might take this opportunity to see how Midoriya is running my class," said Shirou.

"I will accompany you," said Ectoplasm, the 'detention' effectively over and done with. Shirou merely shrugged his shoulders as he allowed the faculty member to join him. His mind meanwhile drifted off to Rin once more as he pondered just what she was up to right about now.

...

Stain came to slowly, blinking several times at the unfamiliar ceiling above his head. He tried to move swiftly but the aches and pains from his previous battle made his movements sluggish as he raised an arm to rub at the side of his head. This of course raised the very obvious point that he was unrestrained. Tilting his head to the side he found himself not caged in some prison cell, but rather a plain looking room desolate for everything other than the bed he was on.

He didn't know whether this was a good or a bad sign.

Pushing himself into a seated position, the door to his temporary accommodations opened up to reveal his captor, smiling sweetly at him. "Good, you're awake," they said. "I need you to tear down some walls, install a window, pick up some groceries..."

"Just who do you think I am!" growled Stain, his aura pulsating out as he tried his best to intimidate the person standing before him.

To absolutely no effect.

"Why," said Rin coyly, the smile not leaving her face, "You're my little errand boy of course."

Stain had a terrifying feeling that being thrown in prison would have been a better alternative to whatever it was this woman had planned for him.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

**...**

Shirou finished cleaning the dishes and wiping down the bench, ensuring that his workspace would be clear for the coming day. Dinner tonight had felt...off for lack of a better word. He had been feeling off all day to be honest and he knew that his reactions had been a touch harsh. Knowing now what had become of his confidant in Rin, he had been able to calm himself down.

The whole concept though of cooking dinner without her by his side was still something that would take weeks if not months or even years to get used to. Hearing her voice bickering about one topic or another to which he could banter with had been something of a staple in his life. Knowing that silence would be his companion for a while, it was an interesting concept for him to get used to.

There was always the television he supposed.

Checking the time, Shirou rolled his shoulders before making his way towards the exit. He had a deadline to keep after all. Heading out the door the first thing he could feel was the chill of the night air dancing across his skin. The second thing he could feel were the sets of eyes locked on his position.

Was he at all surprised by this development, not at all. If anything he would have been more shocked had there not been people watching his every move. His partner had left the premises after all without consulting anyone and as such there was a theoretical possibility that he would flee as well. Of course he had no intentions of doing so but they were wary of any possibilities.

"Are you guys going to keep watching from a distance or going to be social?" asked Shirou, looking over his shoulder at a nearby tree. There was momentary rustling before two figures leapt down.

"Your knack for knowing when you're being watched is frustrating," said Eraserhead, complete in uniform. Again, Shirou couldn't blame him for being prepped and ready for any situation. Also he could understand why Aizawa had been assigned to this position. They still thought that his ability to produce weapons was the result of a quirk as opposed to his magecraft. It made sense to send in the teacher who was capable of preventing people from using their abilities, even if his quirk was useless against him.

"Then you shouldn't be so obvious," retorted Shirou with a light smile.

Aizawa couldn't help but click his tongue in annoyance, knowing full well that it wasn't that he was terrible at not being discovered but rather Shirou's situational awareness was ridiculous. Thankfully, Ectoplasm didn't rise to the taunts either and simply gazed at Shirou with a look of humour. "Truly, our future looks grand with you as part of it," he commented.

"Perhaps," said Shirou with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I bore witness to how you instructed your peers today," stated Ectoplasm. "Your methods may be unconventional but it is clear that they are benefitting from your teachings. Pray tell, were you taught in similar methods?"

Shirou allowed a thoughtful hum to resonate from his throat as he put his hands behind his head. Beginning his journey towards where he would be making his demonstration, Shirou answered. "To say my mentor was harsh would be an understatement. The first time I held a weapon against her she knocked her down within moments. Days would pass by and no matter how many times I stood up she would knock me down just as fast. Increasing my time combatting her by a single strike was a sign of improvement, by two was a miracle. It was brutal, yet effective."

"I trust such measures were done only due to necessity," declared Ectoplasm.

"The opposite actually," said Shirou with a chuckle. "She didn't want me fighting in the slightest despite what was happening."

"And she taught you why exactly?" asked Eraserhead.

"Because I wouldn't take no for an answer," said Shirou flashing a cheeky smile.

Aizawa could only respond with an elongated sigh.

"By the way, we should warn you," said Ectoplasm as they closed upon the gymnasium. "Word may have spread about your coming demonstration."

"I blame Midnight," Shirou swiftly accused.

Neither Eraserhead or Ectoplasm could deny the accusation.

"How many should I be expecting?" asked Shirou as the three of them closed in on their destination.

"While the number is quite vast," stated Ectoplasm, "I believe you should be more worried about the calibre of those in attendance."

"So some top tiers are here then," acknowledged Shirou as they stopped at the gym where he had a rough idea of what was awaiting him.

"I would implore you not to do anything reckless," said Aizawa as he gripped the handle. "However I know that you wouldn't pay attention."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Shirou as he opened the door and embraced what was before him. First thing that his eyes noticed was that the gym had undergone some serious renovations in the last few hours. Most likely for the protection of the school property, now hardened cement covered the floor whilst several pillars now stood tall creating some obstacles which he assumed were for viewing entertainment.

The mumbling that had been going on before his arrival was swiftly silenced with all eyes drawing to where he was standing. A quick head count had Shirou estimating that the number of people present was close to the triple digit mark if not a little over. The only member of the faculty that he was aware of not currently present was All Might. He did kind of drop this out of the blue so it wasn't surprising if somebody couldn't take time out of their schedule.

Many of those who had come were not people that he was aware of and he assumed that many of them were here to try and gain his favour in hopes that he would intern with them. There was a high chance that none of them were aware that he was forbidden from interning with any of them but if they didn't know that fact then when he failed to arrive at their base they would simply assume he went elsewhere. No point in bursting their bubble.

A few were heroes that he was aware of. Ryuko had come once again and she had a gleam of determination in her eye. It seemed as if their brief tussle from the other day had made her eager to witness what else he was capable of. Also here was Ryuko's friend Uwabami that he recognized from that night in the penthouse.

There was also one face that he was very familiar with. After all it had been someone whom he had launched a weapon at during the tournament, someone whom he hadn't actually been fighting against. Someone whom would likely agree if he was to ask for some assistance in showing off what he was capable.

Endeavour, the number two hero in the country behind All Might. He hadn't really paid much attention during the fight itself. Todoroki had an uncanny ability that could reshape a battlefield in the blink of an eye, hence there was little time to turn away. Had he had that little bit of extra time to realize just who it was that he had been adamant of launching a lethal weapon at, he might have rethought his actions. However, the man had disrupted his lesson so the punishment seemed just.

Shirou watched as every set of eyes in attendance followed his movements as he walked forward and stood before them. A vast number of those dubbed as heroes by society, and here he was standing before them. Yep, this wasn't quite what he had expected but he'd make do.

"Thank you everyone for being here," he started, clapping his hands lightly together. "I don't know how many of you found out about this but the fact of the matter is that you are all here I'm going to assume for the same reason. Tonight, I have been asked to demonstrate some of the possibilities of my power. You will be happy to know that during these times I will likely need a volunteer and if nobody wishes to join me I will have to choose blindly when asking for assistance."

Quite a few select individuals knew straight away that as soon as Shirou had set eyes on those in front of him that he already had selected whom would be joining him in front of the rest.

"A hero first and foremost, should be able to protect any and all that they are able, regardless of the impossible odds before them," said Shirou as he placed his hands behind his back. "It should not matter how difficult the challenge before them is, a hero will always be willing to put themselves at risk to protect those unable to protect themselves. As many of you are aware, my ability allows me to craft any weapon that I have seen and any abilities that go with it."

"Weapons don't possess quirks," said one random hero, skeptical of what Shirou was getting at. "How is one sword different from another?"

"Weapons don't possess quirks," repeated Shirou as he stroked his chin. "Tell me then, how was it that a single sword trapped in stone selected a single soul that was capable of removing it from it's entrapment? Would you consider that sword the same as one wielded by samurai of years long since past?"

"What you're talking about is a legend..."

"There, right there," said Shirou. "The sword in the stone is legend, one which has passed through the centuries yet even in this present day and age it is still well known. It is not the only legendary weapon by far. For centuries there have been tales of weapons that can split mountains, part oceans and even split the sky. Their strength is sometimes more well known than those who wielded them."

"Are you saying you possess such weapons?"

Shirou manifested two swords into existence, the twin blades looking only minutely different from one another. With a simple gesture of the hand he beckoned one of the heroes who had come to see him to step forward. At first they looked momentarily uncertain but knew that considering the amount of their peers beside them they couldn't really back down without being scrutinized. As they stepped forward, Shirou spoke. "Firstly, I want you to take this blade here and strike at the pillar behind me, then do exactly the same with the seconds. That is all."

Again they looked at Shirou questionably but knew that they weren't really in a position to not do as they were asked. While Shirou could have watched the hero he had chosen do as they were instructed, instead he focused his attention on those who were watching the display. They were still skeptical and rightfully so, to them he was still a student, someone who had barely gotten his feet wet in the terrifying world around them. He could hear the first sword clank against the concrete pillar that the hero he had selected swung true, the weapon ineffective against the hardened material.

Thankfully the second was far more efficient.

"Thank you for your assistance," said Shirou, allowing the weapons he had crafted to fade away into nothing. "I believe that demonstration has just shown that indeed, two weapons are not the same."

Looking over his shoulder, Shirou took a momentary glance at the clean cut that had sliced through solid concrete as if it had been nothing more than butter. "As I was saying before however was that a hero has to be able to defend those unable to defend themselves. Ryuko, for this I will need your assistance."

...

Ryuko could hear the hushed whispers from around her as she felt her teeth grind together. To protect those unable to defend themselves was what she was being brought up for. Many in attendance wouldn't have thought much of the wording but she knew exactly what Shirou meant. Nevertheless, she stepped forward before standing in front of Shirou. "How can I help?" she asked professionally, doing her best to ensure this teenager did not get further beneath her skin,

"All I'm going to do is have you stand behind me," instructed Shirou. "I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," said Ryuko, composing herself. It seemed as if he was going to shield her from harm and it seemed as if that since he was aware of her status as a member of the top ten heroes that in the worst case scenario, she would be capable of protecting herself. Knowing those in attendance, there were very few whom she would consider at her level of strength.

"Endeavour, would you mind assisting in this next part?"

That however, was not something she had been anticipating. She also had hoped that Endeavour's pride would prevent him from assisting what he likely thought as trivial. Sadly as he stepped forward with something reminiscent of a smile upon his lips she could sense that he only had malice on his mind.

"Now, I am going to go over there, far away from the spectators," said Shirou, gesturing to a point opposite to where the masses stood. "Ryuko, as my lovely assistant, will stand behind me. I take it that your fire will reach that point Endeavour."

"Count on it," grumbled the number two hero.

"Excellent, come now Ryuko," said Shirou, beckoning for the number nine hero to follow him.

For her part, Ryuko walked with purpose in her steps while internally she was scared beyond belief. Not only for herself but for Shirou as well. He had demonstrated and spoke of legendary weapons but nothing was particularly coming to mind in regards to any sort of weapon that had the ability to shield the wielder from fire. That wasn't even including her in the mix, how was a weapon that Shirou held meant to protect her from harm?

Stopping at the designated point, Shirou turned to face Endeavour. As Ryuko walked past to stand behind him, he could hear faint words being almost whispered from Shirou's mouth. "Do not fear, I will protect you."

Had her senses not been on high alert, she may have missed those reassuring words. That was truly what they sounded like. There had been no cockiness or bravado, it had been a simple fact. He would defend her at all costs.

Having felt her resolve uplifted, she took her place a handful of feet behind where Shirou stood. "Whenever you are ready Endeavour," stated Shirou as he stood calmly.

A handful of seconds ticked by as everyone in attendance watched on with baited breath. It was only after tensions were at their highest that Endeavour unleashed his power, sending a torrent of fire directly towards where they stood. For Ryuko, time seemed to slow to a crawl as she watched flames hot enough to melt skin from bone rush towards them faster than she had anticipated. Her eyes drifted to Shirou who raised an arm in front of him, directly at the flames which closed in on them.

"Rho Aias!"

In the last possible moment, she watched as a shield of light bloomed forth, the fiery destruction awaiting them crashing upon it and parting around them leaving them unscathed. Ryuko could only watch on in amazement, almost unable to believe what it was that she was watching as the flames continued to rain down upon the shield projected in front of them.

Eventually the torrent of destruction came to an end, revealing the pair unharmed to those watching on. Like the weapons beforehand, the beautiful shield too vanished from existence and Shirou was greeted with a round of applause from those watching. Endeavour did his best to not look insulted but Ryuko knew that a blow had been struck to his pride, even if Shirou had not meant it.

Ryuko watched on as Shirou stepped forward giving out his spiel for the next demonstration he was going to take, Ryuko couldn't help but look at the figure walking away from her. She may have just been sitting inside the top ten but with the future generations already making a stand, chances were that within a few years her ranking would plummet. Perhaps it was time that she spent some time to train once again and come up with some new ways to deal with any and all issues that stood in her way.

...

Shirou shook the hand of the last hero who had come to witness his demonstration, answering politely that he would consider their agency for the upcoming internships. As the doors to the gymnasium closed, Shirou turned to look at the last few people in attendance, namely the school faculty. "So, how did you think that went?" he asked modestly.

"I'd say you put on an admirable display," declared Snipe.

"If I may, I'd like to ask a few things about your power," said Nezu.

Shirou crossed his arms as he heard the wording that the mouse had said. Not once tonight had he said that his abilities in crafting weapons was the work of a quirk and Nezu had seemed to pick up on that. He sincerely doubted that it had been a simple slip of the tongue. "Go ahead," he said.

"Roughly how long does it take for you to look at a weapon for you to analyze it to such a point that you can recreate it?" asked the headmaster.

"As soon as my eyes lay contact on the weapon," said Shirou. "Though there have been some weapons that I have been unable to comprehend in the past."

"Oh, such as what?" asked Midnight genuinely curious.

"I cannot replicate firearms of any kind," declared Shirou. "There has also been a single sword my mind was unable to comprehend when I looked at it. No matter how long it remained in my vision, I couldn't grasp it's reality."

"Reality," repeated Ectoplasm.

"My second question," said Nezu bringing the train of thought back on track, "Is that when you mentioned legendary weapons you seemed almost defencive. Have you bore witness to any such weapon?"

"As Aizawa will attest, I have shown off one of Masamune's finest creations," stated Shirou. "When combatting Mirio, the stone axe I brought forth had been wielded during ancient times, well over three thousand years ago when humanity needed to be strong to survive."

"And you just happened to stumble across such a weapon?" asked Aizawa.

Well he had jumped in front of it and had nearly been cleaved in two by it but he felt no need to tell them that part of his history. "Stumble probably isn't the most accurate of words," he said sheepishly as he rubbed at the back of his head.

"Alright then, one final question," said Nezu coming to the crux. "Why did you never describe your ability as your quirk?"

Shirou's eyes picked up the subtle gestures that the faculty members made, almost bracing themselves for what he might do in response to that question. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," said Shirou.

"I think we will be the judge of that," said Ectoplasm.

Shirou allowed a sigh to escape his lips before he turned to face his homeroom teacher. "Aizawa, would you be so kind as to use your quirk on me?"

Shirou watched as Aizawa's glare hardened ever so slightly and his eyes change colour, indicating that his quirk was in effect. Without hesitation, Shirou crafted a broadsword into existence and those watching couldn't help but allow their breath to get caught in their throats.

"I don't refer to my tracing as a quirk because quite simply, it's not."

...

**Hope you enjoyed. PLUS ULTRA!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night or My Hero Academia**

**...**

All Might watched on as Shirou gave out his final orders for the day, instructing the students to use what they have in their upcoming internships. Toshinori Yagi had made an effort to come to as many of these training sessions as he could over the past fortnight after having been unable to attend Shirou's demonstration.

He truly wished that other arrangements hadn't prevented him from showing up to witness Shirou's performance in front of the other professional heroes. What his peers had told him afterwards had been unbelievable and had made him wish that he had cancelled his prior plans. Alas he had had to deal with second hand information from predominantly Present Mic (who had more than likely overexaggerated everything) and Nezu (who likely had overanalyzed everything). Since then, he had made an effort to make as many of these after class sessions as he could in order to witness any of these feats for himself.

Sadly, it seemed as if Shirou had only ever intended on sharing the details of his powers with the members of the faculty, not once using anything that he was seemingly capable of in front of the other students. Likewise, he himself had been asked not to speak openly about what Shirou was capable of under orders from Nezu and unfortunately All Might knew why. If they simply went out of their way and announced to the world that there was a power outside of quirks that was untracked and unregistered with who knows how many people were capable of it, it could lead to panic.

So for now, it was held secret amongst the faculty. Toshinori felt that Nezu had another reason for this in being that there still was the possibility of a mole within the school. If the information leaked to the public, while it would be temporarily chaotic it would also show that the person leaking intel was a member of staff. It was a terrible thought to have but one they had to consider.

All Might's attention was drawn back to the children in front of him as Shirou dismissed them for the evening, sending the students on their way. For some reason he wouldn't feel surprised if he discovered that Shirou had assigned them homework to do during their internship. From what he had witnessed, while he was strict in his lessons he was never overly cruel, pushing them slowly past their limits but never sending them over the edge. In the short time he had been with them he had already acknowledged their strengths and weaknesses and consequently knew which boundaries required a gentle push in the right direction in order to better them as a whole.

"I must say, excellent work as always," proclaimed All Might as some students exited the gymnasium, their limbs sore from the day's activities.

"They are the ones who will defend this country who civilians will depend on one day, any mistake that they make then is a mistake that I made now," said Shirou, looking towards the top hero in the country.

"Everyone makes mistakes, even I have made errors in the past," stated the professional hero, making a clear internal note of Shirou's word choice regarding who the next batch of heroes were.

Shirou's eyes darted across the room quickly, taking note that a handful of students had yet to leave, watching All Might speak to him. He wasn't quite sure what they were waiting for but considering how things usually went, they wouldn't have to wait long. "In this position however, mistakes result in casualties."

"Those are only in extreme circumstances, I assure you..."

"Please," scoffed Shirou, cutting All Might off, something which caused the students still watching to take an involuntary gasp. "There's a reason the obituary page in the paper is never less than a double spread and as a general hint, it isn't old age. You may do everything you can in your power but people still die."

For the smallest of moments the ever present smile on Toshinori's face faltered ever so slightly. "You are far too young to worry about such matters," he said trying to steer the conversation away.

Easily catching on to what All Might was trying to do, Shirou ran his fingers through his hair before proposing a hypothetical question. "Tell me then, one man is keeping ten people hostage and nothing short of death will prevent him from releasing an attack that will kill them instantly. Would you be willing to kill one criminal in order to save ten innocent lives?"

All Might's eyes sharpened the tiniest of margins as he glared at Shirou. It was times like these that he had to recall that Shirou was indeed far different than any other student who had entered the hero course of this academy. His life before coming into the school was nearly a complete blank slate, something which might have been done with either his or his friend's powers.

The way Shirou acted, how he behaved on a day to day basis, was of someone who didn't simply know what he did through an internet search. He knew what he knew because at some point in his young life it had become essential to learn such life lessons. Or, and this was a terrifying thought, he had learnt such lessons through the heat of the moment.

"Did you save them?" asked All Might, silently hoping that he was misreading this in its entirety.

"Yes," declared Shirou resolutely as he started to walk casually towards the exit, straight past All Might whose hand had clenched into a fist.

"So you killed then," stated All Might, his head lowered to the floor.

"No," said Shirou, his back still to the top hero who looked over his shoulder at the boy slowly walking away. "I saved all of them, villain and all."

Toshinori released a breath that he hadn't even realised he had been holding, gratitude washing over him that Shirou had not sullied his hands with the lifeblood of another human being.

"At least the first time."

The door closed behind Shirou mere moments after his final statement had been made, causing the students who had remained behind to whisper nervously amongst themselves. All Might watched as young Midoriya made a beeline for the door, chasing after Shirou but he himself remained rooted to the spot.

While he may not have openly admitted it, Shirou had effectively stated that he had killed another person before. The more disturbing part was that he seemed so unfazed by the entire incident. All Might could merely hope that this was due to the reason as to why he had found it necessary to take a life. Had Shirou suppressed the guilt inside of him out of the belief that he had done the right thing?

Shaking his head, All Might knew better than to speculate about such matters. The fact that Shirou seemed to be opening up to him was a good sign, even if what he was opening up wasn't necessarily a good topic. A topic which now left him in an awkward predicament. A single glance over at the other members of Class 1-A showed that some had their phones in their hand and were possibly ready to spread such information out to their friend, most likely out of safety precautions. Now he needed to play damage control and do his best to convince teenagers that not spreading gossip was a necessity in this situation.

...

"Hold up," shouted Midoriya as he closed the gap between himself and Shirou, the other boy slowing down at the sound of his voice. The green haired hero in training was glad as Shirou halted and turned to face him, gifting him a small smile.

"What's up Midoriya?" he asked politely.

"How do you do it?" asked Midoriya.

"It?" repeated Shirou, unsure of where Midoriya was going with his question.

"How are you able to stand up to All Might like that?" clarified Midoriya, his body tensing as he mentally prepared for the answer given to him.

Shirou meanwhile observed the small change in Midoriya's stance. He was more than aware that Midoriya was, for the lack of a better term, a fanboy. His knowledge on the prowess and history regarding a number of the school's heroes was astonishing and it showed that he had spent years doting and admiring professional heroes. Shirou figured that his off handed comments before could have been seen as a spark of something in Midoriya's mindscape, that perhaps those that he worshipped weren't as untouchable as they appeared.

"Walk with me," said Shirou, turning around and resuming his journey back to his homestead, Midoriya swiftly joining him by his side. "Tell me, throughout the entirety of Japan, are there areas where no heroes work." Midoriya raised a thumb to his chin butr before he could put a great deal of thought into it, Shirou cut him off. "Before you overstress yourself, I'll let you know that there are areas where heroes don't patrol the streets. Whether the population is simply too small, or there isn't enough of a financial gain to be made working out in remote areas, I don't particularly know nor do I care. Fact of the matter is, there are parts of Japan where heroes don't exist."

Taking a quick glance over at Midoriya, Shirou could see that the boy was soaking up his words like a sponge. Likely he wasn't taking everything he said as if it were gospel but the fact that he was paying attention was a great starting point. "You can picture it can't you, trying to set up a hero agency in some far off corner of the country where the only potential crime would be a speeding ticket or perhaps a pickpocket, something which the police are more than capable of taking care of. Why would a hero set up his place of work somewhere where there isn't much work?"

"You grew up in such a place didn't you," stated Midoriya, reading between the lines. "A place with no heroes."

Shirou didn't particularly want to explain that the heroes that had existed in that world were from a separate plane of existence so he simply continued on. "When I was young there was a fire, a fire which devastated my home killing at least five hundred people. According to the person who found me, I was the only person to survive the inferno."

Midoriya's pace had slowed dramatically, the hero in training likely trying to get his head around the facts that Shirou was telling him. "I was five years old, unable to truly comprehend the desolation around me. My only instinct was to live, find some way to escape. I'd look to my left and find corpses so charred they were barely able to be recognized as humans. To my right I would find strewn limbs that had escaped being buried beneath rubble, which meant the rest of the person was. I was terrified but I kept walking, step by step with intense heat biting at my flesh and smoke choking at my lungs. Eventually, I no longer had any strength left to save myself, and I accepted my death."

"You accepted your death," said Midoriya slowly, the whole idea hard to grasp. Shirou didn't blame him, it was a tough train of thought to get one's head around. Again, he could have added how the fire had started in the first place but that wasn't something he needed to get in to.

"No hero saved me that night, I was rescued by the person who would become my adoptive father. From the wreckage, I was the only person that he could find who hadn't perished in the blaze," said Shirou, his eyes softening ever so slightly. Rubbing at the back of his head, Shirou opted to diverge from this path of thought before he said something that gave away the fact that he was far older than what he looked like.

Thankfully, Midoriya had him covered. "I'm so sorry," he said, bowing apologetically. "I had no idea that..."

"There's a reason why I don't talk about my past all that much," said Shirou. "It made me who I am today, just like how your past has made you into the hero in training standing right here, right now."

Lifting his head, Midoriya was able to see that Shirou was giving him a heartfelt smile, letting the boy know that Shirou meant every word that he said. That also continued on to the next lot of phrasing that Shirou made.

"Now, we need to talk about your technique."

"My technique?" repeated Midoriya.

"Yes, you're trying to emulate a style that is outside of your body structure," explained Shirou. "Taking away the self destructive strength of your power, your technique, whilst improving, is not too dissimilar from what you'd find in a bar brawl. Your ability to improvise on the spot is much higher than some of your peers but unleashing something that you have little to no experience with could end up putting yourself out of commission before your opponent."

Midoriya simply stood there, absorbing what Shirou was saying as he continued on his speech, pointing out flaws in how Midoriya entered each and every combat situation. Needless to say, there was a lot to be said.

...

Chizome Akaguro snarled at the customer in front of him, complaining about how the last batch of produce that she had purchased from the store had been foul by the time she had served it to her guests the following day. Pinching at the bridge of his nose, Akaguro couldn't help but be reminded of how much he hated the life that he was now living. Not by choice of course, the runes engraved onto his very body prevented him from returning to his prior residence where he could continue his work, ridding the world of fake heroes and changing society for the better.

So many better ways he could be spending his time other than being the errand boy for the witch who held him at her mercy.

The only grateful thing about being the slave for that wench was that he was effectively her guinea pig. Many would see that as a detriment and call him crazy for thinking otherwise. The boons from her experiments however were already starting to show. He felt lighter, could see further and more clearly, could carry far greater loads than what his body should be able and move faster than ever before.

As far as he could tell, all of these adjustments to his body had been made for the sole purpose of serving her as her bodyguard. He also knew however that if this was the case, then she expected to be targeted at some point by somebody incredibly powerful. When the time came for him to test out his newly acquired abilities, the world would know that Stain was merely taking a break from bettering the world. The purge was still ongoing after all.

...

Iida stood proudly at the place where he would be interning, his hero costume on and on full display in front of the people who worked at the facility. While it may have been unnecessary for him to be dressed as such in these opening moments, he had wanted to make a stellar impression with those whom he would call comrades for the time being.

"Hey kid, I know you haven't been formally greeted or anything but as you can see it's a bit chaotic," said one of the sidekicks, taking a moment to speak to Iida. The chaos he spoke of was evident as everyone scrambled about in order to make the place of business as clean and tidy as possible.

"I understand, I imagine it was a difficult time recently," said Iida.

"I think you of all people should know what we were going through," said the man sheepishly before offering Iida a handshake, lifting his arm up from where it had dangled near his knee. "Name's Ryudin or as I'm known about the office, Stretch."

"Tenya Iida," he said in return as he shook the offered limb. "This may be bold of me to assume, but I hazard to think that Stretch isn't the name you are known by when you are recognized by the populace as the hero you are."

"Yeah, Extendoarms is what I go by when doing hero work," said Ryudin as he rubbed at the back of his head. "That's out there though, in here I try not to take things so seriously."

Before Iida could respond, a new voice spoke forth, silencing everybody else in the room and making them freeze in place. "Ladies and gentlemen," they shouted, their voice carrying to every corner of the room. "It is my honour and privilege, to announce the arrival of our boss, freshly returned with a clean bill of health and ready to return to duty once more, Ingenium!"

The applause was deafening as the door to the room opened up to reveal Iida's older brother, ready and willing to return to active duty. "Alright guys," he said raising his hands up to try and quiet the commotion, to little success. "Thank you, thank you, I've missed you all as well. While there will be time to catch up on what I've missed out on, this is still a working agency and I need to be brought up to speed with what has happened in my absence."

Tenya could only watch with awe as his brother returned to the role he had been away from for so long. The hospital had prevented him from leaving their facility for far longer than necessary and when Iida had raised the idea that he would intern under his older brother, a deadline had been made. The hospital still were unable to explain why the professional hero had recovered the way that he had and after having effectively run out of tests to take, permitted him to return to his home and family.

Now though, now was the time to show the world that Ingenium was as fit as ever. Patrolling the streets with his brother by his side sounded like the perfect way to announce his return to the public.

Ingenium was back.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

**...**

Momo rubbed at her eyes as she realized just what it was that she had signed herself up for. She had thought that having teamed up with the professional hero Uwabami would have gifted her some insight into the world of patrols and how to adapt to a random encounter on the street, something which was commonly seen on the news and social media. Instead she was having her hair and makeup professionally done by people who wouldn't even remember her name the following day.

She understood the point, that it was important to try and get your name out there by any means necessary. To be seen by the public and become a recognisable hero that people would rely on.

Nobody would even recognize her as the backup to the professional hero Uwabami in a shampoo commercial.

Finally, Momo found herself free of the attendant's hands who walked away as she gave them a polite message of gratitude. "I hate this, so much," said the voice from nearby, her peer from U.A who had found herself in a situation that was not what she had been expecting.

"I admit, this is not what I had in mind when I signed up to intern with Uwabami's agency," said Momo, agreeing with what the student from 1-B was saying.

"I just want to know, what part of this is hero work?" asked Kendo, the girl wishing she could tear at her hair but knew just how much trouble that would get her in. Or more importantly, how much longer she would have to sit in the chair and have the professionals once more tweak at every individual strand of hair on her head.

"I'm sure..." started Momo before stopping herself, knowing full well that she was lying to herself. "No. Thinking about it now, this feels like Uwabami is using this as a way to make herself continue to seem relevant in the public eye. She herself...is nothing more than a figurehead for her agency."

Yaoyorozu wasn't sure if her claim was true or not but she couldn't help herself as she found herself voicing her anger out at the situation that she was in. "Amen sister," said Kendo. "After all this rubbish we need to get her to take us out on the streets!"

Momo watched as Kendo's fist enlarged due to her quirk before she clenched her fist, a bold declaration of sorts. "What will we do if she says no?" asked Momo, unsure if they would be able to get the professional hero to approve of their request.

"Then we quit," said Kendo as if it was the simplest solution.

"We...quit..." repeated Momo, unsure if she had heard Kendo right as her hand shrunk back down to its normal size.

"Yeah! We go back to school, tell them that it didn't work out and just get the teachers to give us homework or hopefully something practical to do instead. Anything would be better than more of this!"

Yaoyorozu carefully weighed her options before nodding her head slowly in agreement. She had come into this internship on the hope of learning more about the hero lifestyle and if she wasn't going to get it in this internship then what was the point of remaining on it.

"Ten minutes girls," announced someone from nearby, snapping the two of them back to the reality they were currently in. They would find out in the next few hours however if this was indeed the reality that they would have to remain in for much longer.

...

Tenya Iida could not have imagined such a day only a couple of weeks prior. Having only seen his brother incapacitaded in a hospital bed barely clinging to life to now patrolling the streets side by side. Such a thing truly was a miracle.

The one thing that stumped Iida however, along with most of the medical world, was how Tensei had recovered. Why had he alone been granted a second chance when so many others had not?

Tensei had been awfully tight lipped about the circumstances leading to his recovery. That in turn meant that he knew what had happened but was either sworn to secrecy or opted to simply keep what had happened to himself. Regardless, Tenya knew that his brother kept his mouth shut for a reason and would not push him to reveal anything if he so chose not to.

Tenya watched as his brother raised his hand up to his headpiece, receiving a transmission from his agency about something happening in the area. Waiting patiently, it wasn't too long before he turned to face Tenya. "Alright brother," he said, smiling from behind his helmet. "You able to keep up with me?"

"Yes!" said Tenya swiftly, saluting as he did so.

"Good," said Ingenium. "Stay close."

Social media was flooded shortly afterwards as pictures of Ingenium and his protege successfully accomplishing their tasks. For the masses, it was a sign that the Turbo Hero Ingenium had well and truly returned.

...

Shirou couldn't help but run his fingers through his hair as he looked at the two people that his homeroom teacher had dumped on him. "Alright," he said slowly as they knelt before him, heads hanging down in shame. "Please correct me if I say anything wrong here as I do my best to summarise the situation. The two of you went to work at the same agency, where you were disappointed by the fact that you wouldn't be taken out on patrol by the hero whom you had selected to work under. When you pressed them to go and do something more heroic, they took you outside where they were bombarded by fans and then they spent time posing for photos and signing autographs. At which case, the two of you created a social media storm by leaving your chosen hero high and dry in front of their fans and the press."

"Am I missing anything?"

"No," said Kendo as she lifted her head to look Shirou in the eyes, only to drop her head just as quickly as she witnessed the harsh glare he was sending at the two of them. Yaoyorozu did her best to remain quiet.

"Now, the two of you left the teachers in a predicament. The solution they came up with is that for the remaining time of your internship, you will be under my care for the entirety of the time," said Shirou. He watched as the two girls kneeling before him had two very different reactions. Yaoyorozu seemed to stiffen at his words while Kendo lifted up her head in hope that she wasn't getting off as bad as she previously thought she would be. "Before anything however, I do want to say that I am proud of you two."

Momo now tilted her head up to look at him, confusion in her eyes. "Why?" she asked wondering why she was getting any sort of praise for her actions.

"The two of you stood up in what you believe in, in what you believe a hero is. Frankly I imagine some of the faculty are proud of your decisions however they won't state their opinions due to wanting to keep in the good books of the agency," said Shirou with a shrug of the shoulders. "Do not however think that this means that I will be going easy on you. I will push you to your limits, all day every day until you return to your classes. Am I understood?"

"Yes sir," said Kendo, giving a mock salute alongside a cheeky smile indicating that she wasn't thinking that this was going to be so bad. Momo, having been at many of Shirou's trainings thus far, knew that if Shirou said that he was going to push them to their limits, he would do so. "So sir, what time should we reconvene tomorrow?"

"I believe you misunderstood me when I said, all day every day," said Shirou.

"But it's starting to get late," said Kendo taking a quick glance towards the afternoon sun. "You know, our parents will start to get worried if we don't get home soon."

"True," said Shirou, stroking at his chin. "In which case, the two of you are permitted one phone call each to your respective families where you can inform them that you will be staying here until the last day of the internship when I allow you to go home."

"What! But? Why?" stammered Kendo, unsure of what was happening right now.

Yaoyorozu opted to go for a much more straight forward question, knowing full well that Shirou was serious with his word. "Where will we live during this time?"

"There are two houses on campus, I live in one and the two of you will share the other. The only time the two of you are permitted to leave campus is to go grocery shopping. I will not give you a curfew but know that I will be waking you will be expected to meet me outside yourself at six every morning at which you will present yourselves promptly. I warn you not to make me wait."

"That's, that's ridiculous!" said Kendo as she got to her feet as quickly as possible. "What makes you think that we'll do any of this?"

"The faculty has made me responsible for your punishment," stated Shirou. "If you have an issue with how I conduct your punishment, take it up with them. Or, if you wish to change my mind, make me."

"With pleasure," declared Kendo, running high on the adrenaline coursing through her veins. With Shirou only a handful of metres in front of her, she pulled back her hand as it grew in size before swinging forward, now being able to reach the distance between herself and her target. Momo had yet to move, knowing full well that Kendo's act of defiance was ill advised. It took only a matter of seconds before Kendo found herself flat on her back, the wind being knocked out of her.

"I will give the two of you the night off to accommodate to your new living arrangements," said Shirou as Kendo took deep breaths in and out, trying to push the pain she felt to the back of her mind. "Since the two of you are currently lacking in any general supplies, I will cater for your dinner tonight. Remember though, I will expect you outside at 6am sharp."

"Yes," said Momo in understanding, unsure of how she would go in these new settings. Regardless, she and Kendo had gotten themselves into this mess. One way or another they were going to pay their due.

...

Midoriya allowed the power of One for All to flood his body, pulsating through every fibre of his being. While the output he was able to maintain was minimal it still created a great deal of stress on his body. Since this was the first time he had allowed his body to access the potential his quirk had to offer, he felt that he would have to treat it like a muscle. Overworking it too quickly could lead to disastrous effects (his broken bones from the entrance exam did come to mind) so he would have to work at it slowly. For starters he would try to maintain it for small periods of time before giving himself a break before repeating the process. After that he would try to allow his body to hold the form he was currently in for longer periods of time and again, utilize his quirk on and off several times so that his body could become adjusted to being in this state.

"You're mumbling," stated Gran Torino, Midoriya's internship mentor. Midoriya couldn't help but pause, not realizing that he had been voicing out his thoughts that way. "Your thoughts however are not unwarranted. Your body is unaccustomed to you accessing One for All like this and until it is you should treat it carefully."

"Yes," said Midoriya as he allowed his quirk to temporarily dissipate, freeing his body of the strain that One for All was creating.

"There's something else on your mind, isn't there," said Gran Torino, seeing the look of concern on Midoriya's face.

"Well," said the student sheepishly as he scratched at the back of his head. "I've kind of been trying to work out a new fighting style."

"What's wrong with the one you are using?" asked Gran Torino, unsure where this train of thought had come from.

"The thing is, everything I've done has essentially been copying somebody else's techniques," he said honestly. "I've even shouted 'Smash' before. But now..."

"I see," said Gran Torino as he placed his hands behind his back. "You don't want to find yourself becoming the hero emulating All Might. They're mighty big boots to fill and frankly at the moment you barely deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as him."

Midoriya swallowed at the harsh yet fair criticism before asking his next question. "So can you help me develop my own style?"

"Sure kid. By the way..."

"Yes?"

"What's your name?"

...

Shigaraki was not a patient man at the best of times. Watching a television report on how there had been no word of the Hero Killer since his run in with the recently healed Ingenium (which if he ever saw that bastard again, he would be sure to rub it in his face) definitely tipped him towards breaking point. All these reports on whether or not the villain, who made it his duty to hunt down those who protected the city, had hung up his cowl or was simply biding his time? It was infuriating!

Frankly, Shigaraki couldn't give two damns about what the reason was! All he wanted to know was why every report seemed to be about him! Where were the reports questioning when the League of Villains was going to strike next? Why didn't anybody want to speculate on what their next move was? Why was he so news worthy and not them?

Kurogiri couldn't help but sigh as he watched his master's pupil boil in wordless rage. It was essentially a case at this point as to when he decided to do something as opposed to if he would do something. Regardless of what he chose to do however, he would stand by his side to support him.

However foolish it may be.

...

Kendo woke with a start as she found herself drenched, a bucket of water having been tossed over her sleeping body. "What in the hell!" she screeched as she struggled to figure out what had just happened.

"You made me wait," said Shirou unapologetically. "Be thankful this is simply a warning for the first day. You don't want to know what I'll do if you're late tomorrow. Now get changed, you've already wasted two minutes. Time's wasting."

Kendo suddenly came to the realization that suffering by having done naught under Uwabami's regime may very well have been better than whatever it was that her fellow classmate had it store for her.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

**...**

"Alright ladies, time for a bit of theory," said Shirou, allowing the two people who had been sentenced to train under him to collapse to their knees in exhaustion as sweat poured from their brows. The midday sun was bearing down heavily on them and despite the fact that Shirou had joined them through every exercise thus far he was yet to show any signs of slowing down.

Kendo had found that this had been the way that Shirou's lessons had been thus far. They got up at what should have been a criminal hour in order to start their physical exercises before the sun had even crept into the day. For nearly six hours they would go through countless different exercises, slowly pushing their limits ever forward. She hated to admit but the brutal training regime was definitely working. Then they would spend a bit of time chatting before going to get some food from the cafeteria before Shirou would destroy them in combat over and over again.

The worst part of it all was that he had decreed that at no time were any of them allowed to use their quirks!

"Now, can either of you tell me why I've instructed both of you not to utilise your quirks in combat thus far?" Shirou asked of them as they struggled to get their breathing in check.

While her first instinct was to tell him that it was because he was a sadist, she was well aware that such comments typically had her writhing in more pain than normal in the afternoon's session. "Because, I don't know, we're able to keep our quirks hidden against our opponent," said Kendo as she allowed the sweat to drip from her brow.

"Precisely."

"Wait? Really?" said Kendo, surprised that she had given the answer that Shirou was after.

"The two of you have quirks that, when utilised in combat, are able to give you the element of surprise but only when used correctly," said Shirou. "Kendo, if you were to show off your quirk before a fight has even begun then you've wasted any opportunity to gain the upper hand on them. As soon as they know what you are capable of then they will plan to counter you accordingly. If you are to wait until their guard is open and enlarge your fist at the last possible second, they have no time to respond and victory is almost assured."

Kendo knew that when Shirou said the word 'almost' he meant it. He had good points in that all the battles she had fought as part of class thus far it was very easy for her peers to see what was coming at them. She sheepishly rubbed the back of her head as she considered just how much she telegraphed her attacks when every blow was far larger than normal and consequently far easier to see.

"Later on today, we're going to work on the speed at which you can alter the size of your hands," stated Shirou before he turned his attention to Yaoyorozu. "For yourself, we will be working on the speed and variety of things you can create from your body. If you can fend off a foe long enough for them to not know what it is that you are truly capable of then you will find yourself in a favourable situation. The ability to craft whatever you can comprehend is something remarkable but it is limited to how much you can focus under stress. Being able to bring forth the right thing at the right moment is critical and if used poorly you can give away your advantage, resulting in your enemies trying to attack you from a distance to prevent whatever you bring forth being able to hit them."

"If I may, can I ask about your own quirk?" asked Yaoyorozu as she got to her feet, dabbing her brow with a handkerchief she had crafted.

"What about it?" asked Shirou as he crossed his arms.

"The weapons you create, is there any way for me to make something like them?" she asked, almost hopeful.

"Make a sword," instructed Shirou, Yaoyorozu obliging and forging a standard broadsword out of her hip, gripping onto the pommel as the tip of the blade came free from her skin. "Now tell me, what properties does your sword have?"

"Oh, umm, well the blade itself is made from steel..."

"And why is it inferior to any steel sword I can craft?" asked Shirou, cutting her off.

Yaoyorozu blinked in confusion at the question, knowing full well that she had made it to the best of her ability. "I don't know," she answered honestly.

Shirou brought a sword into existence, one that was almost identical to the one that Yaoyorozu held. "The swords you create have not been through the intense process which all weapons go through. You've skipped steps such as forging, heat treatment and polishing to name a few. These steps are fundamental in what makes a weapon truly stand out."

"I understand," said Yaoyorozu, somewhat deflated.

"There is one last characteristic of the weapons that I can create that make a vast difference," said Shirou as the sword he had crafted vanished into nothingness, only to be replaced by something that neither of the two students had predicted. "What do you make of this?"

"It's a scalpel," said Kendo, unsure of what Shirou was getting at.

"Hold it," he said as he twirled it in his hand before offering it to Kendo, with the point facing him. Awkwardly, she stepped forward before taking the piece of medical equipment from him. "Tell me, do you feel anything from that?"

There was several seconds pause while Kendo tried to feel anything from the item in her hand. "Umm...should I?" she asked uncertainly before passing the item on to Yaoyorozu.

"No," said Shirou. "That scalpel is one that I recently saw in the hospital here. This one however," he said as he crafted another scalpel, "is a little more special."

Kendo obliged the theatrics as she grabbed hold of the medical equipment presented to her, expecting to feel nothing as she had before only to pause ever so slightly, uncertainty flowing through her system. "What?" she said slowly, not sure what it was she was feeling right now. There was a sense of foreboding dread, as if she shouldn't be handling the item in her hands.

"This scalpel belonged to Josef Mengele, the German's Todesengal during World War Two," explained Shirou.

"Todesengal?" repeated Yaoyorozu.

"Angel of Death." Kendo couldn't help but shriek a bit as she dropped the scalpel, taking a step back to ensure that she didn't stab herself with the medical relic. Yaoyorozu looked at the scalpel with disdain before Shirou allowed the item to evaporate into nothingness, along with the scalpel that she had been holding. "Those two scalpels were incredibly similar regarding materials used, weight, sharpness and so on. However what you could feel with Josef's scalpel was experience. It was an item used for radical surgeries and human experimentation. Now tell me, if I was to use one of those two scalpels, which of them would serve me better?"

"Josef's," answered Yaoyorozu.

"Yes, while I couldn't use it as well as him, I could use his scalpel and perform higher level surgeries than what I could if I used a standard scalpel. So to bring it all back around Yaoyorozu, the central reason you can't create some of the weapons I can, is because you create something new, untouched and inexperienced. Everything I craft is rich in history and experience, something which can't simply be created."

"I think that's enough for now, so let's go get some lunch."

Kendo and Yaoyorozu couldn't help but nod in unison as they followed Shirou towards the cafeteria, both of them feeling slightly squeamish after having heard Shirou's explanation. It also didn't help that they got the uneasy feeling that he had used that vile item at least once before.

...

From an outsiders perspective, having decided to join such a physically challenging internship would have seemed foolish to many who had her quirk. The number of times she had been rendered helpless however in the countless battles both with and instructed by Shirou however had shown her that her combat abilities weren't as strong as they could have been. Had Uraraka's internship however been worth it thus far?

Yes, yes it had.

Gun Head's instructions thus far had been heavily insightful and he had been impressed by the skills she possessed. Skills that she hadn't had when she had first been accepted into U.A. As brutal as Shirou's lessons were, there was no denying the fact that her fighting ability had increased. Simple things such as her reaction time, confidence and her decision making had improved, little bits which could drastically alter the flow of battle.

"That's enough for today," said Gun Head as he clasped his hands together, signalling that the training had come to an end.

Hearing that, Uraraka wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her palm, fatigue creeping over her body. Bouncing the tips of her fingers off of one another, she couldn't help but be curious as to how everybody's internships were going. She couldn't help but be especially worried about how 'his' internship was going.

"You're thinking of a boy, aren't you," said Gun Head from far closer than Uraraka had realised he was, his hand placed over his mouth despite the fact his face was hidden by his mask.

"What? No! Of course not!" shouted Uraraka as she waved her arms back and forth, the blush on her face glowing vibrantly.

"Don't worry," he said, almost giggling as he did so. "I'm sure you'll have plenty to show him when you return to class in a few days."

That was a daunting reminder for Uraraka that her internship was soon coming to an end and school life would soon resume. It would be interesting talking to all of her classmates to see how everyone had gone with their individual training. She was sure that so many of her peers would have done some amazing things during their internships and she couldn't wait to hear them all.

...

Midoriya reacted as best as he could as the train he had been on with Gran Torino had the wall crashed in, a hero being thrown violently through as a monster followed swiftly behind. A monster that was far too familiar for his liking.

As the screeching of the brakes kicked in, Midoriya could barely make out the sound of Gran Torino telling him to stay in place as he shot forth head first into the Nomu. The old him would have panicked, flailed about and wondered why his mentor had left him without a second thought. Instead he moved swiftly towards where the injured hero was, checking for vital signs as he did so.

While his consciousness had been knocked clean out of him, the man was still breathing which was as good a sign as any. Ensuring that the man had no external injuries that could jeopardize his life, Midoriya took a look over his shoulder at the destruction caused by the Nomu. With the train still slowing down he could clearly see Hosu and the damage being done to it as an explosion rang off in the distance.

Did he have the strength necessary to be able to take a Nomu down? Highly doubtful. Even with five percent of One for All flooding his body he was barely able to compete with Gran Torino.

What he could do however was help those who were in fear. He could help those on the streets who were panicking over what was happening and help lead them to safety.

These were things that he could do.

This was what Deku could do.

...

Stain sat watching the television, perched in place as the destruction happening in Hosu ravaged the town. It was these moments that transfixed him as he witnessed those who had the potential to truly shine as a hero and those who were a hindrance on society as they pretended to play hero.

Part of him wished to be in Hosu at that moment to enact justice upon those who were failures, mere sheep in a system unable to do anything at the moment when people truly needed them. It was during these times that a so called hero tempted faith by trying something that they were incapable of. Especially against enemies like the ones that had flashed across the camera. All of them looked odd and Stain knew that something wasn't quite right. The destruction being caused seemed to be without reason, something which irked him to no end.

Yet for some reason he didn't feel as if it was their fault. Whenever one glanced across the screen it seemed to be single focused, as if the rest of the world around them meant nothing. Theoretically, that mean that somebody was controlling these creatures from the shadows, keeping their own hands clean for the time being. Was such a thing possible? Considering what the witch was capable of a little bit of mind controlling bestial looking creatures seemed as if it would be child's play to a person with the right quirk.

The screen panned upwards slightly, spotting debris about to crash to the ground. As the camera dropped it settled on a young girl crying who happened to be and was only saved from certain death by a teenager garbed in hero attire made from a green bodysuit. Stain couldn't help but allow a small smile to creep across his face as the news feed cut out. It seemed that within the new generation of heroes stepping forward there were those who wished to be a proper hero instead of being a fake.

He just hoped that society wouldn't corrupt them and take away their true nature.

...

Todoroki ran alongside the sidekicks his father had partnered him with while he had rushed off to confront one of the Nomu. He had had temporary flashbacks when he had seen the monster and witnessed how similar it was to the beast that had been utilized in the villainous assault back at school. Now however, Shirou wasn't available to take on the regenerating creatures.

When he had recognized them for what they were, he had conveyed every bit of information he could recall to his father who seemed somewhat relieved to have some manner of intel on the enemies running rampant across the city. Whether the enemies they were now facing had the same absurd levels of strength as the Nomu back at U.A. had yet to be determined but Todoroki knew that he had to help wherever he could.

The sound of collapsing rubble alerted him and he took a quick look at the sidekicks he had been with. "I'm going to check to see if anybody was injured," he said, pointing off in the direction that he had heard the destruction come from.

"Keep your coms on, radio if you need assistance," shouted one of them, knowing that in a crisis such as this that keeping in contact with one another would be crucial.

"Got it," replied Todoroki as he broke off from the rest, keeping a steady pace as he ran around the nearby corner to be greeted with a sight that he didn't expect to see. "Midoriya?"

"Todoroki?" said Midoriya with the same level of confusion that his peer had as he held onto the child that he had saved moments ago. Quickly though, the two of them remembered just what hellish situation they were in and abandoned all unnecessary questions.

"Are you helping guide evacuees?" asked Todoroki, looking at the young girl that was crying in Midoriya's arms.

"There's an emergency shelter not far from here," assured Midoriya. "If you could watch my back while I escort this girl there it would be really helpful."

"Of course," said Todoroki as he gave a slight nod of the head.

"Alright, we're going to get you to safety now, just hold on tight," said Midoriya, doing his best to calm down the girl in his arms. They gave him a meek nod despite the fear pulsing through her system.

Without another word, Midoriya started running with Todoroki right behind him knowing full well that he could trust his teammate to keep him safe were anything to go wrong. Thankfully, after a couple of tense minutes they managed to make their way to the shelter where they were met with a traumatized mother, screaming out in desperate hope for thier missing child. Upon seeing them, tears of joy quickly swept down her face as she took the child away from Midoriya.

"Thank you so much," she said as her daughter wrapped her arms around her neck.

"No problem," said Midoriya.

"Best you get inside now," said Todoroki, knowing that danger still lurked everywhere.

Without another word, the woman turned and rushed inside leaving the two students standing on the street. "What now?" asked Midoriya.

Todoroki reached to his radio but paused as his attention was driven upwards where a Nomu flapped its gigantic wings, staring at the two of them with unblinking eyes. "To get that as far away from here as possible," he said without missing a beat.

As if sensing their resolve, the Nomu released a sickening shriek before diving at the pair of them only to be met by a torrent of flames, Todoroki shooting the inferno at the creature who seemed to burst through it unfazed. Midoriya allowed the five percent of One for All that he could control to circulate through his body. "Stop!" he shouted, Todoroki obeying the instructions swiftly before Midoriya leaped straight at the creature, driving his knee into the jaw of the creature. As he dropped to the ground, Todoroki reacted by sending several piercing icicles into the air in an attempt to penetrate the wings.

While his attack struck through, the Nomu's skin was too tough and instead of stabbing through it merely pushed the Nomu further into the air. "Damn it," he said through gritted teeth as the Nomu recovered and flew above the danger, circling them high above the sky.

"This way," said Midoriya as he ran off towards some open space, anywhere that was far away from where the civilians were hiding. Todoroki quickly clued on to what he was doing, following suit in the hope that the Nomu would give chase. It did, hovering high in the sky as it stalked the two teenagers running through the streets.

"Any ideas on how to take it down?" asked Todoroki, throwing nervous glances over his shoulder awaiting the next moment the Nomu would strike.

"Freeze it to the ground," declared Midoriya. "If I can get above it and knock it down, you pin it down with all the ice you can muster."

"Got it," said Todoroki as he skidded on the spot, Midoriya doing the same. Both boys quickly locked their sight on their target which descended into a steep dive.

It was time to be heroes.

...

**Hope you enjoyed**


	28. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night or My Hero Academia**

**...**

"When Rin told me that she would be sending someone to pick this up, you were not exactly the person I had in mind," said Shirou as he looked at the person he had been instructed to meet.

"Trust me, this isn't what I normally look like," said Stain in disgust. "That witch has made it so that I look more 'average' in order to not draw attention."

Shirou merely shrugged his shoulders having figured that something like that was the case. Rin wasn't the kind of person who would make the average looking person their attendant. While it did make him mildly curious as to what the man in front of him truly looked like, he wasn't curious enough to mess with the magic that Rin had cast. "I take it that she wanted this in exchange for my request, she's found someone to test it on."

"Wasn't that hard," said Stain with a wry smile. "Walking down some of those alleyways in the middle of the night is begging for trouble."

"I'm sure you know that she can handle herself." Stain didn't give him an answer. Shirou merely offered up the box that he was carrying. "Be sure this gets to her. I'll be able to sustain it for a while but it will vanish at some stage."

Stain's eyes sharpened slightly, having felt that the person in front of him had just offered up some valuable information regarding his quirk. "So what's this special item she sent me all the way out here to collect?"

"Have a look for yourself."

Stain held his place for a few seconds before opening the box that he had in his hands to reveal a dagger. Not just any dagger however and considering the fact that it looked as if it was designed for some sort of ritualistic experiment Stain could tell that there was something special about it. "I take it I'm going to be hearing some screaming when I return," he said as he closed the lid, hiding the ornate dagger from view once more.

"When she's done with her experiment she'll probably send them on their way with their memories altered," said Shirou knowing what was likely to happen.

"What makes this dagger so special?"

"Well, knowing Rin like I do, she's probably trying to do something unthinkable," said Shirou as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Given what she is capable of, along with the power of this dagger, I'd hazard a guess that she's going to try and destroy or remove and store the person's quirk."

Stain's eyes went wide at that and his grip on the box tightened ever so slightly. If whatever the witch was trying was possible, it would be the most sought after thing amongst criminal organizations. And the boy in front of him made this? The way he spoke about it as well, ripping away a part of somebody that had been there since they were a small child was no joking matter and he talked about it so casually.

"Tell me," said Stain slowly, his eyes locked on Shirou's. "When you asked the witch to attack the false hero, why only humiliate her? Why not kill them?"

"The world mourns those in the limelight who have passed, either through natural means or as the result of outside forces. They would be remembered for their triumphs and those who speak negatively of them are rarely heard. Now she has a choice, to either retreat from the public eye and be remembered as a hero who fled when it got too tough for them. Alternately, she bounces back and becomes more than she was before," explained Shirou.

"To live in disgrace or force themselves to become more," summarized Stain. While they weren't quite the ideals he lived by, he could understand where the man in front of him was coming from. He felt it only right that he shine his own beliefs on the matter. "I believe that purging this world of all those unworthy is more effective. Doing so urges true heroes to respond and better themselves, knowing that a looming threat exists capable of wiping them out one by one. The unworthy will never be true heroes."

"When given the chance, anybody is capable of being a true hero," said Shirou, his mind fluttering to a golden haired Servant from long ago. "It's whether or not they are prepared for the responsibilities and burdens that come when they take hold of that chance."

"You're an interesting fellow," said Stain with a menacing smile plastered across his face. "I'll be sure to tell the witch that you are in good health."

Shirou said nothing in response as Stain stepped away from him, watching him carefully for a few steps before turning his back to him. Shirou didn't blame him for being suspicious of any sort of treachery, being in the constant company of Rin would make those unaccustomed to her habits on edge. The fact that Stain now believed he had a quirk that could create weapons that could erase quirks probably played a factor into why he was cautious when backing away from him.

Taking a moment to himself, Shirou turned about and walked towards the other side of the alleyway, his cape billowing behind him with every step. Since he was out for the night, he didn't see any reason why he shouldn't do a little bit of side work before returning to campus.

...

"Oh my gosh, I saw you on the news, you were so cool!" exclaimed Ururaka excitedly as she stared at Midoriya with wide eyes.

"It...it...it was nothing," responded Midoriya as he struggled to maintain eye contact with the girl in front of him, his cheeks almost glowing red.

"It was not nothing," declared Iida as he adjusted his glasses. "You did admirably on the field for all to see your heroic nature!"

"B...But if the pros hadn't come when they had..." said Midoriya, hesitant to finish that train of thought. He and Todoroki had been able to restrain the Nomu, Midoriya mildly fracturing his arm in the process before Todoroki buried it under a mountain of ice. They had thought the battle had been won but cracks appearing in the ice spoke much differently. It was at that time however, as they were coming up with a number of plans on how to defeat the beast once and for all, that reinforcements arrived.

That night, Midoriya could only think of how much stronger he needed to become in order to be able to safely control more of One for All. He had no doubt that Todoroki had spent the night contemplating how much stronger he wished to become as well.

Seeing that Midoriya was uncomfortable with the topic of conversation, Ururaka turned her head about before locking on to Momo who was sitting nearby in silence. Recent developments swiftly returned to her and she couldn't help the exasperated look that crossed her face. "Yaoyorozu, you were interning under Uwabami right? Were you hurt?" she asked.

"Hurt?" repeated Yaoyorozu, uncertainty ringing through her voice. "What do you mean?"

"Uwabami was attacked, in broad daylight no less. How did you not know about that?" asked Ashido from nearby, having heard in on the conversation.

Yaoyorozu was momentarily flustered that she hadn't heard the news about her former mentor. "I didn't see the end of my internship," she said ashamed, turning her head to the side. She didn't want to make mention that she hadn't really lasted more than a few hours with the hero who seemed more focused on her looks than her heroic activities.

"Really?" said Midoriya, glad that the topic of conversation had been shifted from him. "Did they catch the person responsible?"

"No," said Ashido with a shake of the head. "All that was really shown was that she seemed fine, posing for photos and signing autographs before BAM! Struck from behind. Next thing is she's on the ground on her hands and knees vomiting all over the place!"

"That's horrible," said Yaoyorozu, understanding why she had been attacked in such a way. It was a clear message that someone didn't approve of Uwabami's 'hero' work and to damage her public image in such a way was far more effective than dealing her any kind of physical injury. She may have only spent a limited amount of time with the professional hero and it wasn't like she would get any kind of revenge on her or anything but that would be the way she would go about it if she were going to attempt something.

Yaoyorozu shook her head lightly from side to side to clear such thoughts from her mind. Shirou's theoretical lessons about targeting enemies weaknesses shouldn't be utilized in such a manner. Heroes attacking other heroes, the thought was almost criminal.

Thankfully she was reprieved of any further questions as Aizawa stepped into the room, silencing the students instantly no matter how exciting the conversation was and making those still standing rush into their seats. As he started, Yaoyorozu's thoughts lingered on Uwabami and this mysterious attacker. Even if she wasn't the stereotypical hero, she was still a very popular figure in the public eye and attacking her undoubtedly would have caused a great number of ripples in the community.

...

"Alright, let's see if the internship has improved your skill," said Shirou as Midoriya stood opposite him, the rest of the class standing on the sidelines. It had been of little surprise that after the lessons of the day, Shirou had made his way to the gymnasium, followed swiftly by the rest of the class. For many of them, it was odd to see Yaoyorozu lead the pack, almost diligently walking just behind Shirou and not be part of the rest of the pack.

It had been something that came as a bit of a shock to those in the class but they hadn't said anything as of yet. Instead they had watched Midoriya step forward to be the first to combat Shirou and after having watched him perform All Might's class this afternoon many were keen to see just what he was capable of.

Then there was Bakugo.

"Kill him dead!"

It was hard to tell who he aimed that at.

His voice however did push Midoriya to jump into action, his body glowing as his quirk circulated through his body. It took a small moment for him to push forward at an incredible speed. Midoriya had known that this moment was to come and had planned for it accordingly. It was common knowledge that many of his fights that had been witnessed thus far had often started with him throwing a right punch. He merely hoped that Shirou paid as much attention as he assumed he did.

Pulling his arm back, Midoriya watched as Shirou reacted, having already adjusted to the difference in speed that he was now capable of. Midoriya however had deliberately telegraphed the attack, twisting his body in a circular motion and bringing his leg up in a spinning heel kick. The blow connected with Shirou's guard, something which Midoriya had anticipated. It wasn't too difficult to adjust one's guard from blocking front on to side on, especially when that person was Shirou who just seemed naturally fantastic at fighting.

His assault however wasn't finished.

While his speed may have not taken Shirou off guard, the increase in power seemingly had as Shirou was pushed back the slightest of margins. As soon as his foot had touched the ground once more, Midoriya sprung forth and aimed his next attack straight at Shirou's stomach.

It never landed.

Midoriya groaned in pain as his body was pressed to the ground, his arm bent awkwardly behind him as Shirou held him in a painful hold. "Alright, that's enough," said Shirou as he released his grip and got off of Midoriya.

With the weight now off him, Midoriya allowed his quirk to dissipate and his body to return to normal. Pushing himself to his hands and knees, Midoriya was grateful to see Shirou's hand extended in front of him. Taking the hand, Shirou helped pull Midoriya up to his feet. "You've gotten better," complimented Shirou.

Midoriya sheepishly rubbed at the back of his neck before making his way back towards where the rest of his peers were standing. There was a small round of applause from the other students, Kirishima even giving him a solid thumbs up. "Way to go man!" he said with a broad smile spread across his face.

"Now, who can tell me some of the mistakes Midoriya made?" asked Shirou as he stood in front of the students.

"He took his eyes off of you," said Yaoyorozu, answering almost immediately.

"Yes, taking your eyes off of your opponent can have devastating consequences," said Shirou. "It doesn't matter how flashy a move is, if it is not guaranteed to deal significant damage to your enemy then there is no point in taking unnecessary risks. Anything else?"

"He got confident," said Todoroki, the normally silent student speaking up as he stepped forward, taking the initiative to be the next student to fight Shirou. "The second attack he made was done so under the pretense his first had set you off balance and had given him the advantage."

"Well spotted," said Shirou as he walked towards his starting position. "Never assume that you have the advantage in a fight. More often than not sudden bursts of strength can come forth when somebody is backed into a corner. While the situation isn't quite the same, just remember that if your opponent is not unconscious then they still have the ability to defeat you. Now Todoroki, are you ready to show me if you've improved."

"Yes," said Todoroki in response before he acted, a torrent of flames bursting forth towards Shirou. After having had to put up with his father tutoring him, he needed to vent out some lingering frustrations.

...

"Well that's twenty students sorted into exams," said Midnight as she held several bits of paper in her hands. "Unfortunately we're still stuck with what it is we actually want to test him for."

The other members of the faculty in attendance could understand her frustration. Shirou Emiya wasn't like any other student on campus and it was difficult to find something to actually test him on. Many of the other students in his class had been grouped together to work on their combined weaknesses. Communication, intuition, trust, these were some of the things that were traditionally worked on throughout the exams.

Were Shirou to be paired with anyone in a battle against a member of staff, he would likely carry the majority of the fight on his back. Or, considering his training style, throw his partner head first into an unfavourable battle and only step in when the situation was dire. All that would do was to discourage whoever it was that he was partnered with.

Eventually it was All Might who cleared his throat, drawing attention to him. "I guess the only thing we can do is test his strength," he declared boldly. "I will perform twice and instead of him having to make it to an exit, all he has to do is last five minutes in a battle against me."

"Five minutes?" repeated Cementoss.

"Do you mean..." started Ectoplasm, not liking the train of thought he was on.

"Aizawa," said All Might as he turned to look at the home room teacher for 1-A. "Do you believe he can survive if I were to go all out?"

Aizawa raised his arm up to scratch at the top of his head, contemplating the idea that was being brought forward. "Even when he was demonstrating his powers, we all got the feeling that he was only scraping what he was truly capable of. All Might, I approve of the fact that you are willing to go all out against him. Knocking him down a peg or two could do well for his future mind set."

"I sense a 'but' coming," said Vlad King.

"But, if you hold back for any reason, it is very possible that you yourself may end up facing defeat."

The words hung in the air for a painfully long time. The idea that All Might, the number one hero in the country, was capable of being defeated in battle was a ludicrous idea that shouldn't even be remotely considered. The idea that a student could even hold their own against All Might was in and of itself a terrifying idea.

Yet it was an idea that every member in the faculty knew was terrifyingly very, very possible.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	29. Chapter 29

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night or My Hero Academia**

**...**

The days leading up to the exams went by like a blur; even the written test itself seemed to happen far quicker than possible. It may very well have been because all members of 1-A were preparing themselves for the physical part of the exam where they truly had the chance to shine.

They had heard from their peers in 1-B that the fight was meant to be just against the same robots that had been in both the entrance exam and the Sports Festival. When they were informed however that the plans had changed and now they would be taking on the members of the teaching body, none of them reacted surprised at the announcement. While it was mildly unnerving to see none of them react as they were told who they would be fighting against, they took it at face value. It seemed as if the students were telling them that they were unafraid of the obstacles in front of them, regardless of how difficult the challenge was.

The teaching staff thought they knew what they were getting into with these exams. On paper it was fairly simple. They were professional heroes, with years of experience under their belt protecting cities and people from harm. Their opposition, first year students who were skilled but were yet to truly experience what the real world had to offer.

Of course, the faculty neglected to include one very important piece of information which should have been crucial to tactics and planning against the students of 1-A. That fact was that they weren't the only ones teaching the students.

They were the students of Shirou Emiya.

...

Aizawa sat perched atop the electricity pole, surveying the surroundings. To his back was the exit which both Todoroki and Yaoyorozu were tasked with reaching. It was either that or try and apprehend him with the cuffs that they had at their disposal. Having been their homeroom teacher thus far, he was more certain than not that they would try to sneak their way past. Considering the vast number of side streets and alleyways at their disposal, he knew that he had to be vigilant so that they didn't sneak past him.

Of course when the giant ice pillar appeared right in front of him, he was more than a little shocked and confused at the sudden reveal. The bout had started only a handful of seconds prior, why would they show their location when they still had so much time at their disposal.

It became somewhat evident when he saw someone atop the pillar, wearing a backpack of sorts that they didn't enter the arena in. They also didn't enter the battlefield with what looked like a high powered assault rifle.

As Yaoyorozu looked through a pair of binoculars, scanning the area around them. Aizawa had to say that he was moderately impressed. He had thought that the two of them would take a far more conservative tactic. This was completely unprecedented and a somewhat welcome change.

As Yaoyorozu dropped the binoculars and raised the assault rifle to shoulder height, Aizawa quickly dropped to the streets below as bullets started pelting the area around where he had been. This was definitely going to go differently than he had first imagined.

...

To say that Thirteen was someone who thrived under pressure was understandable, she was a hero who specialized in emergency situations and recovery efforts. Being able to handle severe amounts of stress was critical when rescuing those unable to rescue themselves.

The students in front of her knew her quirk and how it could render everything sucked into nothing. Such was the utter strength of Black Hole.

So when Aoyama and Uraraka charged head first at her, despite all of the stress that working in emergency situations put her in, she did the one thing which undid any chance of her being successful in this encounter. She panicked.

"Wait, wait, wait!" she shouted, taking a couple of nervous steps backwards. "You know what my quirk can do! Why are you running at me?"

"Even if you're acting the villain," said Aoyama, a dazzling smile plastered across his face, "I know that you won't use your quirk on another person."

Thirteen was mildly glad that her costume covered her face, not wanting to show the shock that she was currently experiencing. It was a long, long time since she ever had to even consider battling someone in hand to hand combat. With the knowledge that Uraraka had recently had been interning under Gun Head who was a close combat specialist, Thirteen didn't particularly like her chances.

...

All across the campus, the faculty members found themselves in compromising positions as the students took the initiative, competing in ways that the staff hadn't expected. In a majority of cases, capturing the staff off guard was what helped many students on their way to victory.

Two by two, student pairings successfully overcame the obstacles laid out in front of them. Yet as time drew closer and closer to an end, it was almost inevitable that one of the groups would be unsuccessful in their endeavour.

While many would have hedged their initial belief that if any team would be unsuccessful against the teachers than the team of Bakugo and Midoriya would fail against the strength of All Might. Despite the impossible odds, those two managed to overcome the task set before them, accomplishing something astounding against the mightiest of adversaries.

As the final siren sounded, it was the pair that had been pitted against the smallest of opponents that failed the exam set before them. Ashido and Kaminari had found the intellect of U.A's headmaster too much to overcome, Nezu being able to render them trapped with the use of a crane and the toys at his disposal.

Now though, the members of 1-A were silent, being led by the various members of the teaching body whom they'd just battled with. While none of them outright said anything, they knew that not all of them had taken their final exam yet. There was still one more fight left to happen.

Now, the class of 1-A could truly see just how strong Shirou Emiya was.

...

In hindsight, it had almost been inevitable that this day would come.

Taking a glance to the sides, Shirou had little doubt that there were some manner of cameras broadcasting the event to numerous people. The faculty members had likely made themselves comfortable after the battles with the other students and were possibly more than a little happy to watch the upcoming conflict. Shirou also had the strangest feeling that they weren't the only ones who were watching.

"The rest of 1-A is watching this, aren't they," he said, breaking the silence as he did so as he continued to survey the area. It looked as if the area they were in was originally designed for some sort of rescue operation training with damaged buildings surrounding him on all sides for as far as he could see.

"Not only they, but Vlad King's class is watching this spectacle," declared All Might.

"You calling this a 'spectacle' tells me that you aren't taking this seriously," said Shirou, putting his hands on his hips. Gazing at the number one hero, Shirou was able to see that Midoriya and Bakugo had already put him through some manner of punishment. A little feeling of pride swelled up inside him.

"Trust me young Shirou, there are very few situations where I am permitted to go all out," said All Might, posing as a light breeze made his cape billow behind him.

Shirou glared at the number one hero in front of him for a handful of seconds before turning his attention to where he felt a camera would likely have been placed. "If the audience is watching this, then I'm going to make the assumption that they are also listening in to what we are saying."

"What makes you think so?" asked All Might, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

"So that after I defeat you, the people watching believe that you were holding back," said Shirou, a wry smile spreading across his face.

While the smile remained on All Might's face it did waver for the smallest of moments, informing Shirou that his speculation likely had been right on the money.

...

"Are all you students from 1-A so full of yourselves?" questioned Monoma loudly from across the room where he and the other members of 1-B were gathered. The members of 1-A had paid minimal attention to the ramblings of the loud mouthed teenager who seemed to try to antagonize them with every word he said. "To claim to even be capable of competing against All Might is downright blasphemous! It is as if he is saying he has the power to tackle God himself!"

Understandably, a number of his peers took a little bit of a step away from him at his poor choice of words. Tetsutetsu leaned in towards Kendo, whispering in her ear. "I think you need to shut Monoma up before Shiozaki kills him."

"What, um, oh yeah," said Kendo as if snapping out of a stupor before moving towards the student in question, hitting him across the back of the neck and bringing his ramblings to an abrupt end. "There we go," she said as she placed the unconscious form of Monoma on the ground.

"You seem a bit out of it, normally you'd have stopped him well before he got to that stage," said Tetsutetsu, glad for the silence that came with his fellow student being rendered unable to speak.

"Guess I'm just focused on this," she said, indicating the monitor in front of them.

"You don't think he's got a chance do you?" asked Tetsutetsu. "I mean, we saw him win the sports festival but facing All Might is something entirely different."

"Look at them," said Kendo, shifting her gaze to where the students of 1-A were standing.

"What about them?"

"You see how much they're focused on what's about to happen?"

"Yeah," said Tetsutetsu as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "They're worried that their classmate is going to end up in hospital."

"That's not it," replied Kendo.

"Then what is it then? Are you saying that they think that he stands a chance do you?"

The silence that followed was all the answer he needed.

...

Shirou allowed Kanshou and Bakuya to form in his hands, holding them to the side to show that he was ready for the battle to commence.

Commence it did.

To say that All Might crossed the distance between them in the blink of an eye would be an understatement. The number one hero's fist collided with the flat of the projected noble phantasms which Shirou had brought up to protect his face. The force from the blow however was enough to send the teenager flying backwards, crashing into the wall of the building behind him.

Before All Might followed up on the attack, Shirou projected dozens of swords and blades of all shapes and sizes around him, shooting them forward at devastating speeds. All Might stood his ground as the projectiles rocketed towards him, only to wave his hand across his body at a supersonic speed. The air pressure created sent all the weapons heading his way to veer violently off target and embed themselves in the surroundings moments before they dissipated into nothing.

All Might sensed though that the attack was not yet over, turning his head upwards to spot the rain of blades plummeting towards him. The first few landed in front of him and he took fast hop steps backwards as the ground he had been standing on continued to be pierced an instant after he had stepped away.

As the vertical onslaught came to an end, All Might turned his attention fully on to the boy in front of him whose ornate swords had vanished, only to be replaced by a black bow, an arrow already notched and drawn. For a moment, All Might wondered what Shirou had planned considering he had been able to deviate the path of projectiles from a much closer range. From this distance it would only make it easier for him.

Or at least it theoretically would have, had the arrow not broken the speed barrier several times over.

Shirou allowed his bow to dissipate as the weapon he had let loose exploded in the distance, a vast number of buildings destroyed in an instant from the blast. All Might still remained there, having swayed to the side at the last possible moment having not expected the weapon to fly through the air as fast as it had.

As All Might turned to face him once more, the smile that seemed permanently fixated on his face was gone, replaced with his lips pressed in concern as a trickle of blood ran down his cheek. His hand raised up to rub at his cheek, almost surprised to see the blood imprinted on the back of his fist.

Shirou moved, reinforcing his legs as he bolted off the side down the street adjacent to him at blistering speeds. It didn't take long for All Might to give chase, knowing that the larger the distance between the two of them the greater advantage Shirou had.

...

"What. The. Hell!"

"How is that possible?"

"There's no way!"

"How does an arrow blow up a building!"

These were a few of the phrases currently being thrown about by members of class 1-B, many of them unable to comprehend what it was they were witnessing. While they were being very vocal about the level of monstrosity being displayed, the members of the faculty were silent on the matter. That by no means though that they weren't thinking very similar thoughts.

Across the other side of the room though 1-A remained silent regarding questioning the reality of what was happening. If the other people in the room listened carefully they could hear faint murmurings between them. Instead of discussing different levels of disbelief, they were whispering tactics; how either competitor needed to go about in order to gain the proper advantage over the other.

Principal Nezu was one such individual listening in on what the members of 1-A were discussing. It was understandable that their mindset was different from their peers considering the fact that after every school day came to an end they participated in the strict training that Shirou held.

He could not help but be a little unnerved however as Yaoyorozu, one of the children accepted into U.A through recommendation, casually bring up the idea of 'psychological warfare' and the notion of 'whatever it takes.' Perhaps he needed to pay a bit more extra attention to the extracurricular activities that 1-A was partaking under Shirou's guidance.

...

The wall Shirou had been leaning against burst open, debris exploding in all directions before he felt the giant hand of All Might clasp around his head. There was no way to prevent himself from being tossed violently through the street, his body bouncing off the ground several times before skidding even further. Before he came to a stop he was able to push himself up, avoiding the fist that buried itself into the ground where he had been. Trying to counter, his arm came up, a sword projecting into his hand as he did so. Instead of avoiding the strike, All Might reached forward and grabbed Shirou's forearm, the tip of the blade mere inches away from having pierced his flesh.

With little time to react, Shirou felt his body get hoisted off the ground and above All Might, careening towards the ground at fierce speeds. Despite his predicament, a dagger formed in his spare hand which he thrust forward, piercing All Might's leg before he crashed into the ground, the very surface cracking beneath his body.

As blood spurted forth from his mouth, All Might staggered back in pain. The number one hero gripped the dagger that was embedded in his leg before pulling it out, blood openly flowing from the wound created.

"How long have we been fighting?" Shirou asked as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

"I believe there's still ninety seconds remaining," declared All Might, standing upright over the teenager on the ground.

"All right then," said Shirou as he rolled on to his stomach before pushing himself to his hands and knees, his body aching all the while.

"I take it this means you wish to continue," stated All Might as Shirou got to his feet. "Before we do however, I must ask something. Despite all the pain you must be in right now, why are you smiling?"

"Simple," said Shirou as he lifted his head to look All Might in the eyes. "I'm having fun."

A couple of seconds ticked by before All Might responded with words which mildly surprised Shirou. "So am I."

All Might sprung forward in an attempt to catch Shirou in a lariat. He skidded by however, his attack missing it's mark as Shirou ducked beneath the strike. Reacting on gut instinct, he twisted back and with an arc of his arm, sending the weapons that had been heading his way in all manner of directions. Several returned towards where Shirou was standing but despite the speed, he was able to remove them from existence before they provided an issue.

Shirou watched as All Might prepared to charge at him once more and channeled as much mana as he could to summon forth Berserker's weapon a mere instant before the punch connected with him. The temple pillar turned weapon withstood the strength of All Might's punch, Shirou skidding back slightly through the force of the blow. His grip on the handle remained strong however, allowing him to arc the weapon around in an attempt to cleave at All Might from above.

All Might barely managed to shuffle back enough as the oversized weapon crashed into the ground with enough force that three walls from nearby buildings collapsed under the pressure. With such a cumbersome weapon however, All Might knew that he had the speed advantage. He tried to rush in only for the wound in his leg to hinder him, slowing him down a fraction. Given the speed that the battle had been conducted under, a mere fraction was a lot.

Shirou reacted, swinging Berserker's weapon in a wide arc and connecting with All Might's upper ribs. The professional hero stepped with the blow, wrapping his arm around the giant weapon as he did so as the jagged edge cut lightly into his side. Shirou was taken slightly off guard as All Might began to spin on the spot, finding himself being flung around wildly before his grip faltered and he was sent flying.

Shirou's flight came to an abrupt halt as his leg collided with a steel girder with a sickening crunch before he crashed to the floor. "Shirou!" shouted All Might as he moved forward to help the clearly injured teenager. He was forced back however as several blades pierced the ground in front of him.

That single act made him stand his ground momentarily in sheer shock that despite the fact that Shirou's leg should never naturally bend at such an angle, he was still willing to fight. To go beyond what should have been possible.

"TIME!" shouted a voice over the intercom system, signalling an end to the match. The swords blocking his path vanished into nothing and All Might moved forward once more in order to assist the fallen student who was in the process of pushing himself into a seated position.

"Easy now, I've got you," said All Might as he hoisted Shirou's body into his arms and began moving towards Recovery Girl's office, grunting every time he put excess pressure on the wound in his leg. Shirou wouldn't be the only one likely to get a scolding from the resident nurse.

All Might also couldn't tell whether he should be worried or not that despite what was likely agonizing pain coursing through Shirou's body, the smile he had earlier still remained on his face.

...

The students of 1-B were still struggling to pick their jaws off the floor minutes after the match had come to an end. They hadn't been shuffled out of the room yet as their homeroom teacher was also struggling to come to grips with what he had just witnessed.

It was Monoma, coming back into consciousness that broke the silence. "What happened?" he asked as he slowly got to his feet.

"What happened? What happened!" shouted Tetsutetsu as he found his voice. "We just watched a first year student go toe to toe with All Might for five whole minutes! That's what happened!"

As Monoma struggled to comprehend what he was hearing, the students of 1-A were starting to make their way out the room. "And just where do you guys think you are going?" Monoma asked of the students from 1-A.

"Schools finished for the day," answered Jiro, her hands in her pockets as they stepped out the room one by one.

"Ah, so you're going home then," said Monoma, unable to craft some sort of biased comment to come up with to counter that.

"Nah, we're heading to the gym," said Kirishima boldly.

"The gym?" repeated Tetsutetsu, wondering what his internship partner meant by that.

"For Shirou's training sessions," said Ashido, flashing a bubbly smile towards the other class before she stepped out.

"Hate to ummm... burst bubble," said Pony slowly as she tried to find the right words to say. "But Shirou will be not coming from injuries."

"Maybe," said Midoriya, pausing as the rest of the 1-A exited the room. "That doesn't mean that his lessons end and after watching that, I think we'd be doing him a dishonour if we didn't go."

"Hurry up Deku so I can bash your face in!" shouted Bakugo from outside the room.

"Ah! Coming!" replied Midoriya as he rushed out the room to reunite with the rest of his class.

The students of 1-B however stood there in shock. Each and every student had been through their exams today and had suffered some sort of injury at the hands of the teachers. Even with their injuries however they were more than willing to go hurt themselves further in whatever hellish training sessions Shirou held.

"Someone should go supervise them," said Aizawa.

"You're not going to do it?" Nezu asked of him.

"I've got somewhere else to be," he said before stepping out the room.

"I'll go and make sure they don't hurt themselves too much," said Midnight as she made her way out and towards the gymnasium.

Surprisingly, it was Kendo who moved next, moving away from the rest of her peers. "Don't tell me you're going to the gym as well," said Monoma.

"I am," responded Kendo from the doorway. "I just saw someone our age go toe to toe with the best hero there is when I know I wouldn't last a second. 1-A is actively taking time to get stronger and the gap between us will only widen as a result. Why would I not want to go?"

As Kendo left, there was awkward silence before Tetsutetsu moved forward. "Wait for me!" he shouted as he essentially ran out the room. His actions triggered a chain reaction as nearly all of the members of 1-B gave chase, Kendo's words inspiring them to move forward regardless of the pain they were in.

Eventually the last student remaining was Monoma, the student who had been unconscious for the entirety of the fight still confused by what had just happened. If it was true that a student of 1-A had been capable of going against All Might for five minutes, then he could only think of one thing.

He wanted to know how powerful that quirk was first hand. He needed to copy Shirou's quirk.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	30. Chapter 30

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

**...**

Many would have thought that after having seen one of his students have their leg shattered that Aizawa would have been by his side, asking if he was okay. Anybody who thought that however didn't know Aizawa well.

The hero Eraserhead instead was heading to where Shirou's opponent was located. All Might had already allowed himself to revert out of the muscular form granted to him from his quirk and was found currently sitting outside Recovery Girl's office. His disheveled face turned towards Aizawa, somewhat unsurprised to find Shirou's homeroom teacher there.

"He held back," declared Aizawa.

"What makes you say that?" asked Toshinori in response, pushing himself up to his feet as he did so.

"He didn't try to use whatever it was he did during the sports festival," stated Aizawa, recalling the immense pressure he had felt that day.

"I believe that whatever that is, it is only meant to be used as a last resort," said Toshinori, gazing up at the ceiling. "A technique so powerful that he believes he should only use it when there is no other choice."

"So outside of that, how do you think he fared?"

"You watched, you should have been able to conduct your own ideas," said Toshinori, smiling at Aizawa.

"Well it was a little difficult when you moved faster than I can see and he was being flung about so quick that he was little more than a blur," said Aizawa, his voice showing no emotion.

"Fine, fine," said Toshinori, crossing his arms over his chest. "He has vast amounts of power and speed but that's not his true strength. His true strength lies in both his resilience, tenacity and the sheer ability to adapt to whatever situation he finds himself in. No matter what I did, he always bounced back and when one tactic failed to work, he tried something else."

"If he were professional, where would he rank?" asked Aizawa.

"It's difficult to say," said Toshinori, reaching up to scratch at the back of his head. "In sheer physical qualities, I couldn't tell who would have the advantage between him and Mirko. The ability to summon his weapons and launch them without actually having to hold them first would put him at an advantage against Best Jeanist. I've also heard rumours that he was already able to best Ryuko but in what type of contest I'm unsure."

"So top ten then," concluded Aizawa. "Buff yourself up once more, there's one other person whose opinion we need to get in a matter of expertise that both you and I are ill equipped to judge."

While he was confused at the statement, Toshinori obliged knowing that if he had to buff up it was because they were going to be talking with someone who was unaware of his true identity. In a heartbeat, his body expanded exponentially before Aizawa indicated for Toshinori to follow him.

Toshinori was curious as to who they had gotten in to watch the fight. He hadn't been informed about this beforehand which meant that it was done behind his back. Slowly he began to fear that his old mentor had come to watch him in action, both against Midoriya and Shirou and would scold him relentlessly. Popping up without any prior warning to simply watch him fight, it felt like something Gran Torino would do.

Recalling that Gran Torino knew his identity however allowed that thought to flee from his mind, until the possibility that his mentor and somebody else had watched the fight! Toshinori's smile began to waver a bit before Aizawa came to a stop and opened a nearby door.

"You know it is not polite to keep an old man waiting," declared a stoic voice from inside, the sound of metal rattling accompanying him as he came into sight.

"Yoroi Musha, a pleasure to see you here," said Toshinori.

"Quit the small talk All Might," declared Yoroi Musha, the number eight hero in Japan. The armoured clad hero stood rigid, unwavering in his position.

"So, the kid's weapon skills, can you tell us anything about them?" asked Aizawa, wanting to get straight to the point. If the man didn't want to waste time with mindless chatter then that was more than fine by him.

"He's versatile, knowing how to use each of the weapons at his disposal," said Yoroi Musha with a huff. "To master a single weapon takes years of hard practice and even then one would falter against his skill. The fact that he is proficient in so many unique weapons, one would call him a prodigy. He still had to have had a teacher however yet very few teach the way of the sword anymore, let alone how to do battle with spears, bows and whatever monstrosity of a weapon he used at the end. Anybody who had taught him would likely have made themselves known at the end of the sports festival you hold here, in order to capitalize on his success and attempt to attract new students. Since none did however, it brings forth a few possibilities."

"Which are?" asked Toshinori.

"While it could be something revolving around his quirk, I struggle to believe that that would be the case. It could be that those who taught them have long since passed from this world, pushing him to achieve untold heights in their memory," said Yoroi Musha, slowly stroking at his beard. "That would mean however that a vast number of weapon masters passed away simultaneously which is difficult to believe. More likely, he was taught by an organization hidden from the light. An underground collection of warriors who practice fighting styles that have lost popularity with everyone having a quirk."

"An underground collection of fighters? A villainous organization?" questioned Toshinori.

"Not necessarily," said Yoroi Musha with a light shake of the head. "They may simply be a group of individuals who simply wish to remain hidden to escape ridicule. The way of the sword is vanishing from the world, it may simply be that these people wish to preserve such an ancient technique through generation to generation. However these are merely theories. After all, I cannot imagine someone teaching him to fight in such a dangerous way."

"What way?" asked Aizawa.

"He leaves glaring openings, inviting attacks to strike at vital errors," explained the number eight hero. "Every action he takes is designed to lure his opponents into range for him to counter, but a single mistake in timing could prove fatal."

"I failed to notice anything of the sort," said Toshinori, though from being in the middle of combat he guessed that it would have been difficult for him to notice such things at the speed they were fighting.

Several tense seconds passed by before Yoroi Musha moved, walking past both other heroes on his way out the room. "Thank you for showing me some good entertainment."

Just like that, one of the highest ranking heroes left, leaving the two members of the teaching facility in the monitoring room that he had been viewing the fight in. With the coast clear, Toshinori allowed himself to reduce in size before glancing at Aizawa. "Any idea what he meant there?" he asked of Eraserhead.

"He's not telling us something," he stated coldly. "What though I'm not sure."

...

"Hiding your identity behind the cover of a student. You aren't doing well at keeping yourself out of the spotlight though, which may never have been your plan to begin with. The world is turning right now and you seem determined to be at the epicentre of it. You likely have no idea of the changes you have caused, for better or worse. I hope I live long enough to see your true potential standing at the top one day...Archer."

...

It came to no surprise to the other students of 1-A to fins Shirou in class the next day, despite the fact he had his leg broken in his battle against All Might. While a few of them were curious as to why he wasn't even wearing a cast or had crutches by his side, the rest of them chalked it up simply to Shirou being Shirou. There was no other explanation needed.

As he sat at his desk, he found himself looking at two of his peers who were bowing before him with their heads hanging low. "We're sorry that we failed our exam!" said Ashido and Kaminari in unison, as if it were scripted.

"Talk me through it," said Shirou, his fingers laced and held under his he leant on the table.

"It wasn't fair," said Ashido, as if that was some way to prevent herself from getting in trouble.

"Was anybody's fight fair?" asked Shirou rhetorically, silencing the pink skinned girl.

"The principal outplayed us," said Kaminari. "He used a crane to drop cars in our path towards the exit."

As Shirou began to speak, telling them several different theoretical methods they could have utilized to emerge victorious, the rest of the class simply got prepared for the day ahead. For many of them, they had performed the way they had in the physical portion of the exam just because they didn't want to face the repercussions that came about with disappointing Shirou.

For the benefit of both Ashido and Kaminari, each time that Shirou gave them an option they could have taken they nodded in understanding before asking questions, jumping in with ideas of their own and seeing it all in a positive light. For those who were listening in, it wasn't quite what they had been expecting to hear given how Shirou spoke in the training sessions he hosted.

It was kind of at this moment that the slow realization creeped over them that while they may have known Shirou as a leader, teacher and as an incredible fighter, they really didn't know what he was like otherwise. During the opening few weeks, it wasn't uncommon to have given Shirou a wide berth given his notoriety. When his friend had also been studying here, he and Rin would vanish during lunch hours without so much as a trace and even though they hadn't seen anything of Rin as of late he still spent lunch by himself. Where he spent his lunch was another matter entirely.

The opening couple of weeks, the students of 1-A had spent the time to better get to know each other, build connections and learn little things. Favourite foods, places they liked to hang out, what sport they followed and what team they supported. When trying to think of one personal thing they knew about Shirou, they were unable to come up with a single example.

Well, all except for Yaoyorozu who, on the first day that she had trained with Kendo under Shirou, was treated to a homemade meal by the person the same age as them. Given the quality of the meal, she would have believed that it had been prepared and made by the head chef of a top tier restaurant. To dine on it in a simple dwelling had been something completely unexpected.

It was all because of this, that when they were told to prepare for the training camp ahead, the idea of going to the mall sprung forth. A couple of their peers outright said that they had other things to do, which was understandable given the short notice of the impromptu gathering after their training session.

The tough one however would be getting Shirou to say yes. Asking people that they conversed with normally was no problem, after all it was just friends asking other friends to hang out.

This was an operation that had to be handled with delicacy.

...

The team consisted of Hagakure, Ashido and Jiro. Their target, Shirou.

The plan was simple enough as they trailed behind Shirou towards his lodgings at a safe enough distance so that it wasn't obvious that they were following him. The three of them had been selected to approach Shirou and ask him to come out to the mall with them. Under no circumstances were they allowed to mention that they were acting on behalf of a larger group, as the idea of hanging out with a small group would theoretically be much more appealing.

Ashido and Hagakure were well known for their bubbly personalities but they wouldn't be the ones making the request. That was where Jiro came into play. The musician was far more down to Earth than the other two and her asking would make it seem as if she was looking for someone to relax with while the other two kept each other company. The rest of the students were already making their way to the mall and if they managed to convince Shirou to come with, they were to act surprised and act as if it was all one big coincidence.

This was their one chance.

They eventually arrived at Shirou's lodgings, having gotten the information that of the two identical homesteads the one on the right belonged to Shirou. Tentatively, they stepped forward partially expecting some sort of trap to spring out at them. When nothing attacked them however by the time they stood in front of the door, they felt somewhat relieved.

Slowly, Jiro reached forth and knocked on the door twice, the three of them waiting patiently for some kind of response. It didn't take long before the door opened wide, Shirou standing there at the opening. It wasn't that which took them by surprise however but rather the smell which bombarded their senses.

"Hagakure, Jiro, Ashido, is there something I can help you with?" asked Shirou, curious as to why the three of them had found themselves on his doorstep.

"Ah...um...oh yeah..." stammered Jiro having been completely taken by surprise. "We uhh, we wanted...wanted to ask you..."

"We wanted to ask you what that amazing smell is!" shouted Hagakure, unable to control herself.

"Oh that," said Shirou. "I popped by during lunch to put the pork shoulder I seasoned last night into the slow cooker."

"That smells amazing," said Ashido, almost drooling.

"It should be done in a little while if you'd like to try some," offered Shirou, stepping out of the doorway and offering entry to the other members of his class.

They didn't need telling twice.

...

"Mission failed," said Sero, reading the text message that he had received.

"Does it say why?" asked Ojiro.

"No, that's the whole message, just those two words," said Sero as he put his phone in his pocket.

"That's a bummer," said Kaminari as he crossed his arms. "At least they tried their best."

"We'll be able to ask them what went wrong when they meet up with us," said Asui, curious as to how they went.

"Yeah, they'll be able to catch the next train and meet us there."

Ashido, Hagakure and Jiro did not end up getting to the mall that day.

...

Chitoze Kizuki, otherwise known as Curious, sat at the overly sized table designed for board meetings and despite the location, she knew that she would be the only one whom her boss had summoned for this moment. In front of her rested all of her notes that she had gathered on their target whom her leader wished to have join their ranks.

Honestly, she seemed like a perfect candidate if only for the fact that her background seemed completely nonexistent and not in the way that many people in similar situations were. She knew from experience when trying to track down those who wanted to be erased from the system that there was always some sort of trail to follow. Medical and educational records that 'disappeared' always left some sort of trace in the system but this time, there was nothing.

The police record she had acquired gave a family name that didn't exist, period. No records through the etchings of time ever made mention of the family line. She would have believed that she had gone under a false name had the officer who had interrogated her had been the police's Human Lie Detector. Which meant that everything in the report was true, something which had infuriated her to no end.

Regardless of the difficulties which had risen, Kizuki had gotten the information that she was after. Or at least she had gotten the information which was needed. Engaging their target without having a thorough knowledge of their background would make it difficult in trying to get some manner of psychological advantage over them. Taking one more glance at the report in front of her and silenting wishing she had more, she knew that she still had to give her report to him.

As soon as her thought had crossed to her Boss, the large double doors opened wide to reveal him. She may have known him by his true name of Rikiya Yotsubashi but she wouldn't dare call him as such, just like he was going to call her by her villain name. "Greetings Curious," he said, a broad smile spread across his face. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting."

"Of course not Re-Destro," said Curious, smiling back towards her boss, the leader of the Meta Liberation Front. "Whatever spare time you gifted me I spent just going over my notes once more."

"Do you have what I asked for?" asked Re-Destro as he walked towards the window to gaze over the city.

"I have their current location," said Curious as she braced herself for whatever may come next.

"That's all?" asked Re-Destro, placing his hands behind his back.

Here was the moment which Curious dreaded. "Unfortunately, yes."

Several seconds passed tensely, Curious waiting to see how Re-Destro would react and if he would activate his quirk. Thankfully, it seemed that he was taking this information rather well and the office would stand to see another day. "While that is not quite what I was after, I understand that it must have been quite difficult for you to obtain. You've done well."

"Thank you sir," said Curious with a light bow of the head.

"So what can you tell me?" asked Re-Destro as he turned and made his way to where Curious was sitting.

"She seems to have found herself in Hozu," said Curious, picking up the paper in front of her. "The building she is located in had been scheduled for demolition and to be replaced with a larger apartment complex. Despite the fact that it should have knocked down by now it gets pushed back over and over again for seemingly no real reason. There also seems to be the matter that she has found herself an assistance of sorts, though who this individual is unknown at this moment in time."

"It matters not what kind of manservant she has secured herself, what matters is that you've found her," said Re-Destro, clapping his hands together. "Send an invitation informing her that I wish to meet her face to face. Be sure to get a response, whether it acceptance or not."

"Of course," said Curious as she stood up from her chair, collecting her documents as she did before heading straight to the exit, leaving Re-Destro to gaze over the world once more.

The assignment she had been given wasn't impossible but she would definitely not be going alone. The viral footage from months ago was still fresh in her mind and her dominant display in the opening rounds before pulling out in the sports festival that U.A held annually. Curious knew that if negotiations broke down then it would be best to have some manner of back up plan. Considering how difficult it had been to merely track her down, she didn't doubt that she had some sort of plan in place for anybody who actually acted against her.

Despite all of this, Curious couldn't help but be excited about meeting Rin Tohsaka face to face.

...

**Hope you enjoyed**


	31. Chapter 31

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night or My Hero Academia**

**...**

When Aizawa had given the news to his students that the location for the training camp would be hidden until the last minute, he had expected some sort of argument or moaning. Oddly, he had gotten none of that. No. Had these students been the same he had gotten at the start of the year then it would have been odd. Now however, they had grown in maturity and understood that this was for their own safety.

There was no need to whinge.

Unfortunately he knew that this sudden increase in maturity likely wasn't a result of his teaching, or at least his teaching alone. The real reason had to be their peer in Shirou Emiya. The student who had been strongarmed into joining the academy likely wouldn't even had considered enrolling had he not been forced. Despite that, the impact his mere presence created had definitely altered those around. For better or for worse was yet to be determined.

It was perhaps for this reason, that when he saw Midoriya, who had been understandably quiet given the difficult situation that he had gone through, approach Shirou and ask if he had a minute to talk in private. Given the atmosphere in the room at the time, his request might as well have been shouted out for the entire school to see.

Shirou, thankfully, nodded his head in acceptance and looked to Aizawa as if to say that even if he disapproved, there wasn't anything he could do to stop it. It wasn't as if he would say no, more likely he would have applauded the idea but only if it was to someone older and who had some stories to which Midoriya could relate to.

Unfortunately, whatever stories he or many of the staff members could likely provide would pale in comparison to what Shirou had to offer. The boy, even for having something outside of a quirk circulating through his body, didn't become the person he was today without copious amounts of experience to mould him into who he was.

He just hoped he had the right words to give to Midoriya.

...

"So what makes you think that I've been in a hostage situation?" Shirou asked Midoriya as he leant against the wall, arms crossed over his chest as rays of sunlight danced through the leaves of a nearby tree. Having understood what it was that Midoriya was likely going to ask him, Shirou hadn't so much suggested as forced the idea forward that the two of them would talk outside. Midoriya had taken it that Shirou had had the idea because with nature surrounding them it was a more comfortable atmosphere to talk about such a difficult topic.

Shirou simply didn't want any prying ears.

"Just," started Midoriya sheepishly as his gaze focused on the grass by his feet. "Well, when I saw all the scars on your body, I knew that they didn't come from the one fight. So I kinda...guessed...that you'd been through different experiences and one of them might have been..."

Shirou exhaled lightly as Midoriya trailed off, clearly uncomfortable with the topic of discussion. Well it wasn't a common chat to have so it was understandable. Thankfully he had one very relatable story which could help the boy in front of him.

"Years ago, I found myself at the mercy of someone powerful, very powerful," he said looking up towards the sky. "I was bound and helpless, strung up like a piece of meat and completely unable to defend myself. I had something they wanted and it was the only thing keeping me alive."

"What was it?" asked Midoriya, intrigued by the story.

"The life of another person," said Shirou, causing Midoriya to swallow the lump that immediately had formed in his throat. "Were I to give this person what they wanted, then they would have complete control of the person under my care. It was my life, or theirs."

"What did you do?" Midoriya asked skeptically, having distinguished a very possible response given the person standing before him.

"I refused," said Shirou nonchalantly with a shrug of the shoulders. "They laughed at me for that before producing a dagger, you can take a guess what for." He would never be able to properly guess. "I was lucky that I got saved in the last possible moment."

"A hero saved you! Which one?" asked Midoriya with a hint of excitement in his voice.

"I wouldn't really call him a hero," said Shirou, remembering how EMIYA had been at the time. "Though they called themselves, Archer."

"That's quite the fascinating story," said a voice from nearby, one that belonged to neither Shirou or Midoriya.

"Who said that?" asked Midoriya, looking around for the person who had spoken. While he couldn't find the full person persay, they did find part of them in the form of a face sticking out of the wall.

"You know it's rude to eavesdrop Togata," said Shirou, recognising the voice as the one belonging to the third year student.

"Trust me, I had no intention to do so, but rather I wished to check on Midoriya here to make sure he was all right," apologized Togata whilst Midoriya tried to get a grasp of just what it was he was looking at. "That name at the end however is a familiar one."

"You know who Archer is?" asked Midoriya.

"Not really but my mentor is trying to track him down," explained Togata as he walked through the wall, completely nude. Midoriya immediately averted his eyes in any direction that wasn't at the naked man before him while Shirou simply took it in stride. "It seems that he's made quite the name for himself but not for the right reasons."

"He's a hero gone villain," said Deku in horror.

"Not quite," said Togata, lifting his index finger up. "There's no record for them so they never became a hero through official means. From his actions it feels like he acts more as a vigilante. The issue though is that not only does he target villains, but he targets some heroes as well."

"Why would he do that?" asked Midoriya.

"We believe that he does it to test their worth as a hero," said Togata, placing his hands on his hips. "The hero business is a dangerous game and sometimes it is a matter between life and death. Archer might be doing this to make heroes question whether or not they have what it takes to put their lives on the line. Again though, this just seems to be all theoretical at this stage and we have no real proof one way or the other."

"Who knows then," said Shirou, pushing himself off the building wall and beginning to walk towards the nearest door. "We best be getting back and you best be putting some clothes back on."

"There is one last thing we know," said Togata, causing Shirou to stop in his tracks, his back still facing the third year student. "That despite the name, Archer, they've only been known to use swords. As a fellow person who fights with swords, can you think of why they would call themselves Archer? Why wouldn't they call themself Swordsman or something along those lines?"

Several seconds passed by before Shirou gave an answer. "Perhaps because the name you're trying to think of is already taken."

With his piece said, Shirou started heading for the door once more, Midoriya trailing behind him as Togata stood there, unashamed of his current lack of attire. He may not have gotten much intel then, but he was sure Sir Nighteye would be appreciative of any and all information given to him, no matter how small or even if it was relevant. Still though, if Sir Nighteye wanted to chase this lead then he would oblige.

Still though, what was the likelihood of a first year student acting as the vigilante Archer at night?

...

Curious blinked several times as she tried to recollect where she was, as if waking up from a dream of some kind. She truly hoped that she hadn't been sleeping however because sitting opposite her was the person whom she had been assigned to meet with.

It seemed as if they had moved somewhere more public, the hustle and bustle of the cafe they were sitting at a constant noise in the back of her mind. This was despite the fact that they had seemingly selected the furthest back corner of the venue, away from probing eyes.

A quick glance over her shoulder allowed her to spot both of the allies that she had travelled with, standing behind her protectively. Likewise, behind the person who she was apparently in the middle of discussions with stood a single man, the manservant as it were who looked none too happy to be there. Still though, he wasn't the one who was important.

Who was important, was Rin Tohsaka.

"Are you alright? You seem a little out of it," said Rin, stirring the tea in front of her absentmindedly.

"Yes of course," said Curious, not wanting to say that she couldn't recall just how she had gotten here. Though 'here' seemed like a good idea in hindsight. In such a public area, to do anything reckless from either side would undoubtedly result in high civilian casualties which would garner all sorts of unwanted attention. Yes, 'here' was good.

If only she could properly recall where 'here' was.

"Right then, I believe you were about to lay out your proposition for me," said Rin, gesturing for Curious to begin.

Curious meanwhile couldn't help but swallow the lump that had formed in her throat. She did her best not to show it but she was incredibly nervous right now. Her eyes were locked on with Rin's pupils and at first she had expected to see the typical teenage rebellion that she had pegged the girl for. Instead though she had found herself looking at eyes which looked as if they had seen far more than anybody should have. Those eyes threatened Curious, letting her know that if she wasted her time then she would surely regret it.

"Yes," said Curious as she cleared her throat, doing her best to try to compose herself to little success. Taking in a few deep breaths, she began her prepared speech. "I represent the Meta Liberation Front..."

Wait! That wasn't what she meant to say! She could feel the two bodyguards she had brought with her tense at the fact that their organization had just been so casually mentioned but her thoughts were racing. Why? Why had she just said that without hesitation? Her eyes quickly left Rin's and she locked onto the gaze of the man who was standing by her side.

"Who is he? What is his quirk? These are the questions you are asking yourself right now aren't they," said Rin, the ever present cheshire grin of a smile plastered on her face. "I can assure you that he has nothing to do with the predicament you're in right now. Though he is very good at making people talk on his own, I can assure you."

Curious tried to push herself up, knowing that the longer she spent with Rin, the greater the chance she would divulge information that could ruin the organization. Except her body refused to move. No matter how much she struggled, her body failed to obey the simplest of commands. "What have you done?" Curious growled out through gritted teeth.

"What have I done?" asked Rin, looking positively aghast at having been accused of anything. "How absurd for you to believe that I could have done anything which has cut off the neural transmitters from your brain to your arms and legs. Heavens forbid that if I wished to do such a thing then I would have made it so that your heart would give out in roughly three...two..."

Curious couldn't help but feel the panic swelling within her body as seconds to tick by, only for nothing to happen. "Oh you are far too much fun to play with, I'm going to enjoy plucking every bit of information out of you about this, what was it? The Meta Liberation Front?" said Rin, licking her lips as she did so. "But don't worry, you'll only remember what it is that I want you to remember."

"Kill them!" Curious ordered of the two men with her, no longer caring that they were in a public area. The final sentence that Rin had said had terrified her most of all. If Rin truly had the ability to manipulate memories then she could spill all the details about the Meta Liberation Front and not even realize.

"Who are you talking to?" asked Rin coyly.

Curious could only swallow nervously as she went to look over her shoulder, her body able to do that much only to find the bodies of her companions, both lifeless on the ground in pools of their own blood. How? When did that happen? Why wasn't anybody in this cafe panicking about the fact that two people were dead?

"While I could let you stew on the questions going on in your head right now, I feel doing this will only make it more entertaining for me."

Curious could only watch in awe as the world around her began to peel away by Rin's command. Piece by piece the vibrant cafe life was taken away right before her eyes. The atmosphere, the people, the table in front of her, nothing but an illusion.

When the world had stopped shaking, the only things which remained from before were the bodies of the two men who had accompanied her on this mission. Instead of the corner of a cafe, she now found herself in a parking garage with not a single car in sight. She was alone, in an unknown area with two people in front of her that wanted information from her.

There was only one way out of this and she internally apologized to Re-Destro for being unable to return to him.

Touching the armrests on the chair, Curious waited for the swift embrace of death that would come to her from the explosions she had just created. If she was lucky, then perhaps one of the two people holding her captive would die, or at least be injured in the explosion as well. One last act.

Only for nothing to happen.

Again, she tried to implant the chair she was sitting on with the power given to her by her quirk only for there to be nothing once more. "Why isn't my quirk working? This is what you're thinking right now, though possibly with some more colourful language thrown about," said Rin, reading Curious' train of thought. "Well, and in fairness to us I believe, there was no guarantee for our safety. Hence we took some precautionary measures."

"Precautionary measures?" repeated Curious, still trying to rack her brain for what exactly happened before she had found herself in the illusion.

"Let's just say, you won't ever be using it again," said Rin, still wearing the smile which would later haunt Curious' dreams. "Now, let's find out just what you know."

...

Shirou hadn't really known what to expect from this training camp. Considering how isolated they were from society however it seemed fair to believe that they were permitted to go all out without consequence.

The opening act as well had been somewhat entertaining as he, along with the other students had been tossed off the cliff side as the very ground they had stood on was manipulated with minimal effort. He hadn't seen that kind of power and control for quite some time and it filled him with just a touch of excitement.

Now, as he plummeted towards the ground and those around him started deploying emergency countermeasures to ensure that they didn't die on impact, he couldn't help but wonder what else lay in store.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	32. Chapter 32

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night or My Hero Academia**

**...**

"Umm...Eraser, quick question," said Pixie-Bob as she sat in the passenger seat of the bus which had held the children of 1-A only a handful of minutes earlier. Since the students were now taking the long road back, it only seemed fair that she, along with Mandalay and Kouta, hitched a ride with the teacher.

"If you're going to ask me something stupid, save your breath," said Aizawa as he focused on the winding road ahead of him.

"No, it's nothing stupid," said Pixie-Bob, fidgeting nervously as she wondered just how to ask the question that was on her mind. Behind her, Mandalay could see the movements made by her fellow member of the Wild, Wild Pussycats and automatically assumed she was going to ask Eraser to marry her.

She was at marrying age after all.

"Spit it out then," said Aizawa.

Mandalay held her breath in anticipation, knowing full well how Eraser was as a person and ready to be there for her friend if need be. She had a supply of sappy romance movies and ice cream stockpiled in the freezer just for such an emergency.

"What are you doing to those kids?" asked Pixie-Bob, probably far louder than she had to.

Mandalay meanwhile sat there in shock, wondering just what it was that Pixie-Bob was talking about. Kouta meanwhile stared out the window, clearly disinterested with the topic of conversation.

"My, whatever are you talking about?" asked Aizawa.

"Don't play dumb with me!" shouted Pixie-Bob as she slammed her hands down on her knees, trying to be as intimidating as possible given the small confines. "When Mandalay told the kids to get to the base in two hours, she did so because it should be an impossible task. Two hours is how long it takes us to make it and that's without my golems slowing us down."

"What's going on down there?" asked Mandalay, wondering just what it was that was going down in the forest they had sent the children careening towards.

"Is it just one brat messing up your golems?" asked Aizawa, having a good indication of what was happening.

"No, there's one not doing anything but that's not the point," said Pixie-Bob.

"Good, he's letting the others do the work," said Aizawa, still focused on the road ahead.

"Can someone please clue me in to what's going on?" asked Mandalay, hating being left out of whatever conversation the two other adults were having.

Leaning around the seat, Pixie-Bob looked at her close friend with sharpened eyes. "They aren't slowing down," she said. "You know the golems I make. They're capable of taking down villains without so much as a scratch. They can tear their way through debris like paper."

"Get to the point!" said Mandalay getting sick of her friend not being able to properly say what it is she wanted to say.

"Those kids are tearing through my golems like paper!" said Pixie-Bob, almost seething at this point.

"Well isn't that a good thing?" said Mandalay in confusion.

"These kids are merciless," said Pixie-Bob, turning away from Mandalay. "My golems are barely lasting three seconds against teenagers, teenagers! Not only that but it's where they are targeting! Every strike, if it's not initially lethal it's practically crippled them!"

"Wow..." said Mandalay, unable to get her thoughts together. Tiger often requested Pixie-Bob to assist with his training by summoning her golems for him to combat. He could destroy them easy enough but with a single strike? If he put everything he had into it sure but still. "Well, if they burn themselves out in the first few minutes then they're going to be exhausted shortly."

"Don't count on it," said Aizawa, knowing full well the training that they went through in their post school activities.

Both Mandalay and Pixie-Bob went silent at Aizawa's words, who unfortunately didn't sound like he was joking in the slightest.

"Aren't we driving really slow?" asked Kouta, his gaze having not left the window the entire time.

Mandalay and Pixie-Bob looked at the young boy, his comment seemingly having come out of nowhere. His words however rang true, the two of them just realising that they were travelling well below the speed limit.

"What gives Eraser?" asked Mandalay.

"At this speed, your students will beat us there," stated Pixie-Bob, looking out her window towards the base of the mountain they had told the teenagers to head towards.

"You know these winding mountain roads, you can never be too safe," said Aizawa, taking mild delight in the torment the two members of the Wild, Wild Pussycats were in.

...

It was fair to say that seeing the body of Curious float three feet off the ground was simply normal for Stain now. She wasn't dead, unlike the two companions she had brought with her, but considering the 'fun' that Rin had had she probably wished for the swift embrace of death to have claimed her by now.

Yet she would not remember a single moment that she had gone through. An entirely new set of memories were currently being implanted into her brain over the fact that she had spilled every little detail about the Meta Liberation Front. Again, if this wasn't Rin currently doing it, he would have doubted such a thing was possible or at least not heavily monitored by the government. Such a quirk could reshape the world around them if used either correctly or incorrectly. Thankfully, it wasn't a quirk. It was whatever Rin was capable of.

One among the many other bullshit abilities at her disposal.

"What are your thoughts on this organization?" asked Rin, still keeping her mind on the job in front of her.

"The fact they have as many numbers as they do is surprising, though many are likely children whose parents had believed in the cause," said Stain, knowing not to mince words when conversing with Rin. "With the number of people they have, it is easy to believe how they can live under the ideals of this Destro character without conflict. Trying to impose those ideals on others however will inevitably lead to chaos."

"So no chance of self destruction from the inside then," declared Rin. "Is it dangerous to leave them alone?"

This somewhat caught Stain by surprise. The thought that Rin seemingly cared for the wellbeing of others was somewhat refreshing, given the experiments she conducted on those she picked out of barely lit alleyways. "The fact that they reached out to you means that they are planning something, or at least contemplating doing something. They may have wanted your strength on their side for a battle that isn't too far off in the future."

It kind of made him question whether or not he would have been tracked down for similar reasons were his whereabouts known. Given the fact that they had been able to track Rin down meant that their resources were quite vast. He would have slaughtered them after their spiel of course for having wasted his time but chances were they would have been able to find him. That alone made them a danger.

"Well, I have no desire to involve myself in any unnecessary combat but they may not take my rejection too kindly, given what I've done to their 'pet' here," said Rin. "I feel as if it is best for us to inform them personally that under no circumstances are they to try to engage with us again, for their own safety."

Stain meanwhile couldn't help but allow the slightest of smiles to spread across his face. He personally hoped quite a number of people got enraged with whatever it was that Rin was planning. After what seemed like an eternity, there was hope that his blades would taste blood once more.

...

Sweat poured from the brows of the students, adrenaline still pumping through their veins from the run to the base of the mountain. A number of them had collapsed to their hands and knees and Mineta had even had to rush behind a tree to expel the contents of his stomach, unable to keep it down.

Of course there was one person who was unaffected.

"Drink up," ordered Shirou, placing a number of water jugs and glasses he had found inside on a nearby table. He didn't need to repeat himself as the others crawled and shambled their way forward, desperate to quench their thirst. "Don't drink it too fast or you'll choke."

His warning went relatively unheeded as everyone attempted to rehydrate their bodies as fast as possible, disregarding manners for the most part. It was at this time that the bus that they had ridden on earlier drove into site, parking close to the building.

"How did you get lost on the road! Why did you turn off the road? There clearly weren't any side streets in the woods that were, as you put it, 'Shortcuts!'" shouted Mandalay, clearly infuriated with the driver of the vehicle.

"I told you I'm sorry," said Aizawa, lacking any emotion in his voice.

"If you don't mean it then your empty apology means nothing," proclaimed Mandalay before taking in several deep breaths, trying to compose herself before turning to address the students who seemed unfazed by their arrival. Brushing off her costume and making sure that she looked semi presentable, she walked forward and prepared to address the students.

"Koda, Shoji, you guys able to get some more water," said Shiro, clearly not asking a question. Both the students in question merely nodded before taking the empty pitchers and heading inside. "I'm going to head inside and prepare some lunch for everyone, who's able to give me a hand?"

"I will," said Ashido, raising her hand as if she was in class.

"I can assist," said Yaoyorozu, happy to lend a hand.

"I bake in my spare time, so I should be able to help if you need it," said Sato.

"Alright, you three with me," instructed Shirou. "The rest of you, when you're done rehydrating I want you to engage each other in one on one bouts, alternating opponents every minute until..."

Mandalay, understandably, had had enough and tried to use her quirk to telepathically tell the students that nobody was to do anything and she was in charge! Yet when she attempted to establish her telepathic connection however, she experienced pain like she never had before. She could only gasp in agony, clutching at the sides of her head as she collapsed to her knees, visibly shaking.

"Mandalay!" shouted Pixie-Bob, rushing to her side. "Are you alright? What's wrong?"

While Mandalay struggled to get words to form, there was the definitive sound of footsteps marching ever closer. From her position, Mandalay could see the shoes of one of the students who was standing far too close for comfort.

"Be happy that you only graced the surface of my mind," said Shirou sternly, looking down on the professional hero. "I recommend that you don't try something like that again anytime soon."

"What did you do to her?" asked Pixie-Bob, rage building within her.

"I always have a defence around my mind to protect me from mental attacks," explained Shirou as if such a thing was common practice. "You should always be prepared for any and every kind of attack, no matter how rare it may be."

Mandalay struggled to move but forced herself to look up at Shirou and deep into his eyes, only to find something she hadn't expected from someone who had been able to repel her so forcefully. Sorrow. A sadness in his eyes as if to say that his defence hadn't been intentional. His words however didn't quite match the look in his eyes but she began to realize that the words weren't meant for her.

They were meant for the rest of the students.

"Who...are you?" asked Mandalay, barely able to find the breath necessary to ask the question.

"Someone who has experienced far more than you could ever realize," answered Shirou softly before stepping away, moving towards the rest of the students to resume his instructions.

While his words weren't straight forward in the slightest, Mandalay and Pixie-Bob were both able to read into what he had said. His mental defence wasn't just something he thought of, somehow, creating one day. It was something born from necessity. The leadership he was displaying didn't appear overnight. It was something that had been forged through harsh situation after harsh situation.

While Mandalay couldn't help but question just how much more difficult this camp was going to be, Pixie-Bob was curious as to what kind of person he would be in a few years' time.

She was of marrying age after all.

Kouta meanwhile had been standing nearby the entire time, with one clear thought on his mind. That person wasn't a hero, but then what was he?

...

"I'm sorry if I'm staring, but they're just so manly," declared Kirishima, openly looking at the scars littered across Shirou's body.

Shirou didn't really want to tell him that if he didn't have the power of Avalon coursing through his veins during his time as a teenager there would be a far greater number scattered over his body. After the grail war however, Avalon's magic had faded with Saber having vanished. Everything on his body, outside of the scar over his heart, was proof of the conflicts he had been in afterwards.

And he had seen a lot of conflicts.

"Can you remember how you got each one?" asked Kirishima.

"Kirishima, don't be so rude," admonished Iida. "Each of those must have come through traumatic experiences that Shirou would try his best not to recollect."

"Each and every one of them," said Shirou calmly.

"So cool!" declared Kirishmia, clenching his fists.

While Iida reprimanded Kirishima for lack of sense regarding proper conversation, Shirou took the time to look around the open air bath that he and the rest of the male students had located themselves after dinner. A number of them were in deep discussion with one another, Aizawa having made the announcement earlier that the next morning they would all be working on improving their quirks. This was of course the main supply of conversation, many wondering how they would go about trying to increase the strength of their individual power.

Mineta meanwhile was looking at the barricade that separated him and the women who were bathing on the other side. He seemed unable to convince himself that the journey would warrant the punishment that would likely come with it. He looked nervously over his shoulder towards Shirou who gave him a polite wave, as if reminding him of the threat of castration that had occured back during their first training session.

Shirou could see him mutter something under his breath before storming away from the wall and into the water. It seemed as if he had come to the realization that he wouldn't likely be able to outrun the weapons Shirou could produce and living was better than a swift one way trip to the afterlife.

Directing his gaze upwards, Shirou took the time to admire the stars glistening overhead, something which was almost impossible to see back in the city. It was little things like this that reminded him of his youth back in Fuyuki city and how much simpler things had been back when the only magic he could perform was reinforcement.

Now though, it was likely that he was expected to try and improve upon his skills like the rest of the class, even if his magecraft was vastly different to quirks. It did raise one very valid question however, something he had not had to contemplate in a long, long time.

Could he become stronger?

Or, and perhaps more importantly, did he need to become stronger?

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	33. Chapter 33

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

**...**

The scene that 1-B encountered when they arrived at the training grounds was unlike anything they had been prepared for. In front of their eyes, their peers in 1-A suffered through individually crafted tasks that were designed to strengthen their individual quirks through almost torturous methods. As they scanned through the pained faces and agonizing cries, there was one person who was absent whom many of the class were desperate to see.

After all, how did you improve a quirk like that?

The student in question was far off from the campsite, currently sitting in a clearing with his only movements being the rising and falling of his chest with long, deep breaths. Shirou had spent the previous night scouring his mind for what it was that he could improve. He had spent decades honing his craft and since having returned to this younger body he was able to fight like he had when he was in his prime.

So, physically there was little more he could do outside of muscle growth but given his level of reinforcement he really didn't need to increase his strength. This of course had led him to think of his reinforcement and more importantly, his defence.

His demonstration against the heroes who had witnessed him a while back hadn't been much to think about. Rho Aias had been able to defend him against every attack that had been launched at him; however, would Rho Aias have been able to stand the ridiculous strength that All Might possessed? While it very well could have survived a single punch, the shield wasn't invincible. The speed at which All Might was capable of launching those powerful strikes would wither away at the greatest shield in his possession. He didn't know how many blows it would take, but it was inevitable that it would break at some point.

That left his reinforcement; which, as recently proven, wasn't as strong as it could be. While he had been able to maintain it for a good deal of the battle, it did rely on the same power supply as his tracing. While it was vast in depth, it was not an infinite resource.

Thus here he was, sitting in a clearing focusing on his reinforcement. Every muscle fibre, every inch of bone, every skin cell, every bit of his being was currently being strengthened by his reinforcement. At this current moment, only the strongest of attacks could harm him. The concentration needed for this however was straining and the sheer thought of this becoming second nature was maddening. To reach this level during the heat of battle was theoretically impossible.

Which was why he found this challenge worthwhile. This was a state that he had never accomplished before and to so much as to try and take a step like this would be incredibly difficult. Diverting some manner of mana to tracing a weapon would be maddening on his concentration. To bring forth the strength of a Noble Phantasm would be ludicrous.

Thus, he had his goal for the end of the training camp.

...

"You've got your eyes on him, don't you," said Aizawa, looking at one of the members of the Wild, Wild Pussycats.

"Aww, are you worried about your kitten," said Ragdoll playfully before righting herself. "You don't have to worry, the only time when I won't see them is when they go to the bathroom."

Aizawa stared at Ragdoll for several moments before rubbing at his eyes. It made sense that she wouldn't watch teenagers engage in moments of personal hygiene or when they were relieving themselves. He honestly didn't have any retort to that. There was no imminent danger nearby so there was no reason to track them down through every second of the day.

"So where is he?" asked Aizawa.

Ragdoll pointed off deep into the forest. "He's about fifteen miles that way," she said, tilting her body to the side as she did so.

"Fifteen miles," mused Aizawa. Considering the dangerous nature of his power, it was understandable that Shirou had run off at the stupid speed he was capable of and isolated himself from where he may accidentally injure another one of the students.

It did mean however that they would have to wait for him to return as opposed to sending a message out to get him. Given the incident the previous day, he sincerely doubted that Mandalay would try to reach for him telepathically again. Alternatively he could send Iida out into the woods but for the speedster to correctly judge how far fifteen miles was while navigating their way through the dense forest was dangerous in it's own way. Last thing he needed was for him to injure his ankle on an exposed tree root, leaving him stranded. He knew that was a worse case scenario but at the end of the day, if there was anybody on this training camp who was fully capable of looking after themselves it was definitely him.

He silently wondered what kind of dangerous acts Shirou was engaging in order to better himself.

...

Shirou sat in silence, one with the world as creatures of all shapes and sizes surrounded him, some curious as to what this human was doing. Others merely ate at the grass.

...

Midoriya skidded lightly from the blow that Tiger had landed on him. The damage he had taken had been minimal however, having leapt backwards when he had seen the blow coming, mitigating a good amount of the damage.

"Your instincts are good," growled Tiger in his menacing tone that in no way suited the genre of the rest of his teammates.

Once upon a time, Midoriya likely would have started stammering at the praise and consequently lowered his guard and making himself vulnerable for a follow up attack. Now though he remained focused on the task ahead, weaving his way around the ultra flexible limb of Tiger. Lashing out with a kick, Midoriya struck nothing but air as Tiger bent his body out of the way. Sensing a counter coming, Midoriya pushed himself to the side and out of range.

"You're a clever little kitten aren't you," stated Tiger as he relaxed himself momentarily. "Your knack for combat is noticeable and you don't blindly charge in, instead opting to wait for and choose when to strike at openings. What this tactic lacks however is speed. The speed necessary to cleanly strike at the openings you are waiting for. So come at me faster now little kitten."

Midoriya simply nodded, focusing on the energy flowing through his body. It was time to see if he could bump his control of One for All up a percent or two.

...

Bakugo let out a vicious roar as he thrust his hands into the air, giant explosions bursting forth from each palm before he plunged them into the drum of boiling water once more. Groaning under the strain, the vicious student tossed a glance to the left where the half and half bastard was transforming the very landscape around him from an icy wasteland to a bloody inferno.

He didn't blame the gnats from the other class from backing as far away from the constantly changing conditions as possible, not wanting to get caught up in the destructive force that the half and half bastard was throwing out on a whim. Gritting his teeth together, Bakugo ripped his hands out of the water before shooting an explosion high into the air once more. However, instead of the widespread blasts he had been launching out over and over again, this one was different.

Bakugo's blast ascended far higher than anything else he had done thus far but the width was significantly smaller. It didn't mean that it was any less dangerous by any stretch of the imagination. This was an attack designed to destroy a single bastard as opposed to a mob of weaklings.

Plunging his hands back into the scalding water, Bakugo ground his teeth against one another as he prepared his next blast. There was no way that he was going to let anyone's strength grow more than he did. Absolutely no bloody way.

...

Stain leaned against the corner of the room as he watched Rin play with her now toy. If her intention was to infuriate the enemy then when they waltzed in he had little doubt that there would be an outrage at what they were likely to see. He couldn't wait for it.

Of course, they weren't going in just yet. They held the psychological advantage. The longer that the Meta Liberation Army went without news from the person who they knew as Curious, the better. It didn't matter whether or not they received good or bad news, so long as they received something. Hence they were ensuring that nothing was being given for as long as they could.

Make them sweat it out. Were they dead? Was their correspondent dead? Had the officials gotten involved? Was their secret out?

Any news would have been better than the fact that they hadn't had a peep from the person they foolishly had sent off to their lair. Still though, his swords craved blood and he hoped that Rin chose to act sooner rather than later.

...

Dabi rubbed at the back of his neck as he overlooked the forest, the people under his instruction standing close by. Along with the tasks that they had been given, it was clear that this was a test set by the League itself. The Nomu that had been brought along was as loyal as could be but it was effectively a dog on a leash with no capability of doing anything without instruction.

The rest of the people that he had been allocated command of were each a special breed of crazy. Himiko Toga had been there when he had been introduced to the league, while Twice, Mr Compress and Magne had come shortly after. Muscular, Moonfish and Mustard had been brought in at the last minute and frankly he had no real clue as to who they were or what they were like.

If they managed to get past the upcoming conflict he would possibly be bothered getting to know them better. Still not likely but a possibility nonetheless.

Then there was the swordswoman of the group.

Unlike the other newbies who seemingly wished just to create chaos, there was a more terrifying aura about this one. It wasn't clear why she had joined the group in the first place and she didn't even have a criminal record that he was aware of. That wasn't to say that she didn't look the part. Heck, he'd call her stereotypical almost except that he knew that it was best not to antagonize someone who could separate his head from his body.

What little skin he could see was pale, almost deathly so. It stood out in stark contrast to the black of her dress and the dark purple armour enclosed protectively over her vital areas. Her eyes were covered by a visor the same colour as her armour and how she was capable of seeing out of it was beyond his knowledge.

Then of course there was the sword. He wasn't someone who really cared about the craftsmanship of a weapon but he had to admit that it looked truly terrifying in nature. How a sword could be completely black to begin with was strange enough, let alone the blood red markings seemingly engraved across the length.

She, like the rest, had been given a specific target to track down tonight and he couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for this guy. He didn't know what this Shirou guy had done to piss off Shigaraki but to send this woman directly after them meant that there definitely was some kind of vendetta there.

That kid was definitely going to die.

...

Kid in question currently had a deer nuzzling at his head and was oblivious to the fact that night had even fallen.

...

Re-Destro stared out at the evening sky, a small scowl across his face. The son of Destro had hoped that he would have heard something from Curious now, even if it was from a news source confirming her death. Skeptic currently had a vast number of cameras constantly targeted on her last known location but even over the days since she had entered, not a single person had stepped outside.

Normally, he would have believed that she had died a glorious death and had taken out Rin and her accomplice had she been unable to convince them to join her side. Explosions of the magnitude that Curious was able to create with however often caused a great deal of noise, enough to alert nearby civilians who instinctively summoned heroes and the police to investigate. Since nothing of the sort had occurred it made it difficult to judge what it was that was happening.

Worse case scenario was that they were torturing her relentlessly but even then, she would have done her best to cause her own body to detonate and once again, not a sound had been heard. Given the old state of the building there was little chance that it was soundproof and the odds that whatever accomplice Rin had at her side could manipulate sound waves was unlikely, but not an impossibility.

If she was dead, he couldn't help but blame himself. He had been the one to send her into the lion's den without knowing all the details. It just went to show that having a majority of the information at one's disposal did not mean that they were prepared for every possibility.

Allowing a sigh to escape his lips, he decided that it would be best to get Skeptic to organize a funeral for Curious, getting Trumpet to rally the people to unite at the loss of one of their own. It was unfortunate but he had to believe that the worst had occurred and act accordingly. Were she to make contact...

As if his thought process had triggered it, his phone began to ring despite the lateness of the hour. Pulling the device out of his pocket, he answered and placed the phone to his ear.

"_Oh, that seemed fast, were you expecting a call at this hour,"_ said the voice on the other side of the line in an almost sing-song tone.

"Only the most privileged of individuals..."

"_Enough with the pompous attitude boy,"_ said the voice on the other side, cutting Re-Destro off. He honestly didn't know what enraged him more, the fact that he had been so rudely interrupted or the sheer thought that he had been referred to merely as 'boy.' "_Simple matter is we have your girl here with us."_

"So, that must mean I'm talking with the one and only Rin Tohsaka," said Re-Destro, trying to garner some manner of control over the situation.

"_Wow, what a wonderful display of ingenuity, would you like a certificate to put on the fridge to show everyone how smart you are?"_

Yeah, this was definitely rage starting to swell inside him.

"_Three days from now, my accomplice and I are going to return your girl here and I assure you that she hasn't suffered any physical harm while being under my care."_

"And why, pray tell, should I trust that?" asked Re-Destro.

"_Well if it puts your mind at ease I could put her down right here and now without so much as batting an eyelid but that would ruin the fun now wouldn't it. Hence I'm giving you ample time to prepare for our arrival to make it fair."_

Re-Destro took those words onboard as he looked over the horizon, the stars glittering in the sky. He had no idea how self conceited one could be to believe that they were capable of being able to withstand the might of the Meta Liberation Army but they would suffer, he would make sure of that.

"_Now, be a good boy and spread the word that we will be arriving by train at nine fifteen, provided there are no delays of course."_

"Of course," repeated Re-Destro.

"_When we arrive at your tower, we will deliver your girl back to you and politely tell you not to mess with us again. How many of your men you choose to have slaughtered before or after is completely up to you. Keep that in mind now. We'll be seeing you soon boy."_

With that the line went dead, mere moments before Re-Destro shattered the phone in a vice like grip. This wench dared challenge him like this. She would suffer for her insolence. Death would be far too kind a punishment and only endless torture at the hands of the Meta Liberation Army would suit her. Not before he used her however to further their plans.

It mattered not the time, he needed to alert his most faithful companions of this development immediately.

There was work to be done.

...

Shirou opened his eyes as rays of sunlight danced across his skin through small gaps in the canopy. All across his body lay numerous leaves which had fallen from the branches above. What was more surprising was that a rabbit had made itself home in the gap between his legs and if he wasn't mistaken it felt as if some sort of bird had tried to make a nest in his hair.

Just how long had he been out here?

The rumbling from his stomach and the sudden drowsiness infecting his system informed him that it had been quite a while.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	34. Chapter 34

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

**...**

"So you really stayed out the whole night training," said Mandalay as she passed the cup of tea she had poured to Shirou. The teenager in question had eaten shortly after he had sauntered into the training grounds, almost oblivious to the looks he was getting before napping for a few hours and then bouncing back up as if it was nothing. Mandalay was positive that under no circumstances was anything of the sort normal for a teenage boy but given the fact he was sitting in front of her without a care in the world said otherwise.

"I guess so, I kind of lost track of time," said Shirou with a shrug of the shoulders before sipping on the tea he had been given.

"You were gone nearly twenty four hours, all because you lost track of time," stated Mandalay in disbelief. Rubbing at her eyes, she collapsed into the chair opposite Shirou. "When you didn't come back well after the sun had set I wanted to send a search party out for you but Eraser told us not to under any circumstances. Part of me thinks that he wished that spending the night in the woods would make you sick."

"That sounds about right," said Shirou as he placed the ceramic cup on the table.

"Regardless, it's good to see you safe and unharmed," said Mandalay with a small smile. Shirou merely nodded, knowing that it would have been far more surprising if he had been harmed in any way given the state he had been in. "Now, if I may, I need to ask you a question."

"By all means," said Shirou with a light gesture.

Mandalay fidgeted in her chair a bit, knowing that what she was about to ask was likely a bit too personal for comfort. "How did you..." she started, struggling to find the right words.

"Fight your quirk off?" finished Shirou, making an assumption to where Mandalay's train of thought had been going. The light nod he received informed him that his guess had been correct. "For a long time, my friend attacked my mind almost on a daily basis. Effectively, she believed that if we were ever given some information that was classified beyond belief, then it was in the realm of belief that someone would try to extract the information straight from our minds. Hence the training. Over and over again she would infiltrate my mind and I had to repel her by any means necessary. The faster the better. Now, now it's just second nature."

"How long would you say, 'a long time' was?" asked Mandalay.

"Longer than you could imagine."

Mandalay merely nodded slowly in understanding as Shirou reached forward for his cup. Part of her was relieved that, if what Shirou was saying was true, the ability to defend one's mind from attack took a rigorous amount of repetitive training. Given how he had had to train with someone who had a quirk that could assault the mind, it made sense to believe that there was nobody else capable of what he could do.

Knowing this brought Mandalay a sigh of relief. "Did you ever learn anything worthy of protecting to such a degree?" she asked. Shirou merely shrugged his shoulders, causing Mandalay to smirk lightly. It didn't matter what answer he gave, given the nature of anything worthy of being protected to such a degree meant that whatever Shirou said would make her question the legitimacy. Him staying silent was undoubtedly the best option.

"So from hearing conversations around the dining table, I believe that many of the students here have you to thank for the level of growth they have accomplished thus far. Your methods however seem harsh..."

"Of course they are," said Shirou. "The fact that they have stuck on with my lessons for as long as they have shows that their determination to become heroes is unwaverable. I'm merely pushing them so that they are able to survive out there."

Mandalay wanted to say something about how that was such a morbid way of thinking but given the fact that Kouta's parents had died in the line of duty would make her comments more than a little hypocritical. Shaking her head to push those thoughts out of her mind, she focused once more on the teenager in front of her. "Were you taught in a similar way?"

"Yes, though to be fair I did ask for it," said Shirou with a light smile, reminiscing on his time in the dojo with his servant.

"Very well," said Mandalay as she pushed herself off of the seat. "I urge you to take a bit more time to properly rest before you wander off again. I think Pixie-Bob will have a fit if you vanish on her again."

"No promises," said Shirou cheekily, enticing Mandalay to give him a light smile before she made her way out of the room. Shirou meanwhile remained seated, taking the time to enjoy the rest of his tea. Given how long he had found himself fixated on improving his reinforcement, he wasn't in any real rush to return to his task today.

He'd give it another go tomorrow.

...

Yaoyorozu marched through the Trial of Courage with Aoyama by her side. She was resolute with her focus, determined not to allow anybody from 1-B to frighten her. She knew that they would try their best to terrify them but given the torturous routine that Shirou had put her through, she sincerely doubted anything in this forest was capable of scaring her.

It was also somewhat entertaining to know that Shirou had traversed his way into this game before she and Aoyama. He had gone in alone and nobody had dared to comment otherwise. Yaoyorozu found herself giggling lightly at the thought of 1-B trying to scare Shirou.

She truly believed that nothing in these woods were capable of scaring him.

Absolutely nothing at all.

...

It wasn't as if she had been caught off guard, far from it. Given her quirk and being able to see the danger that each and every student and professional hero was facing, she had been aware of the threat the moment it had happened. Ragdoll had however found herself in the most compromising position having been at the midway checkpoint of the Trial of Courage and consequently the furthest from the campsite.

The poisonous mist had forced her above ground, the speed at which it had engulfed the surrounding landscape was terrifying and already she was aware that more than a few students had collapsed from having inhaled too much of the gas. Unfortunately there was little she could do to assist them from her position. Moving to help the students would result in her inhaling the gas and rendering her unconscious but thankfully some of the students were already on to that.

She could see Yaoyorozu produce gas masks by the bulk, passing multiple out to anybody she encountered. Iida was co-ordinating students, not panicking under the stressful conditions. Shirou was releasing an arrow from his bow.

Hold up.

A scream of pain erupted from behind Ragdoll, alerting her of the presence that she hadn't sensed. Leaping to another branch to create some distance, Ragdoll found herself looking at a masked individual wearing a dark yellow overcoat and a top hat with a feather in it. The overcoat was swiftly changing colour however as blood spread from the barbed arrow lodged in his forearm.

It wasn't there for long as he reached for the arrow with his other hand but instead of yanking it free, it vanished and in its place he held a small ball, no larger than a marble. Ragdoll couldn't help but swallow a lump in her throat. If this man had gotten any closer to her, would she be trapped by his quirk? She had no intention of finding out.

"He's releasing another arrow," she said, looking off in the direction the original arrow had soared from.

It was difficult to tell if the villain could tell if she was bluffing or not but given the fierce amount of pain he had suffered from the last projectile, choosing to vacate the area temporarily seemed like an appropriate course of action. The villain leapt backwards and down from the branches, hidden from view as he was engulfed by the poisonous fog.

Ragdoll found herself breathing out a sigh of relief before an arrow struck the tree she was stuck on. While she was momentarily shocked, she saw that the end of the arrow had a taut rope connected to it, leading off to where the marksman was located. Thankfully, balance was one of her strong points and she swiftly leapt onto the rope, the material not slacking in the slightest before she started to make her way towards, she hoped, safety.

...

Midoriya made his way towards the cliffside, having a gut feeling that it was where Kouta was currently located. He was lucky that he had managed to get past the fog when he had. Part of him had wanted to stay behind and render the person creating the mist unable to do so anymore but given the number of people there, he had faith that they would be able to do the job without his assistance.

They could take out that target. He could ensure that a young boy was safe.

Scaling the mountain at a swift pace, he began to hear a voice monologuing and unfortunately it didn't sound anything like the boy he was trying to save. Speeding up ever so slightly, Midoriya burst over the rise before landing on the pathway. Without a second thought, he charged forward, driving his fist right into the person standing close to Kouta, only for the blow to be blocked without any sort of resistance.

Again, the person began to say something but Midoriya thought nothing of it as he launched his other hand upwards in an uppercut in an attempt to make use of the man's need to babble on. Showing speed that he hadn't thought a man of that size was capable of, the man leant back and avoided the blow before gripping tightly onto Midoriya and tossing him towards the cliff face.

Despite the speed he was being flung, Midoriay was able to right himself in midair and plant his feet into the mountain surface, bending his knees to absorb the energy before springing forward. The man pulled his arm back, telegraphing his attack and forcing Midoriya to evade the blow which caused the ground to crack. The old Midoriya would have gasped at the destructive force this man had at his disposal but now, he merely kept on the assault, launching the strongest kick he could at the man's elbow joint in the hope of breaking the bone.

Instead of a satisfying crunch, Midoriya's leg connected with muscle fibres that seemed to spring out from the man's pores, preventing any lasting damage from being dealt. At least now Midoriya had an idea of the man's quirk, taking the opportunity to retreat to where Kouta was standing in shock. The brutal battle he had just witnessed had only lasted a handful of seconds but what a terrifying few seconds it had been.

"You know brat, on anybody else that would have been a crippling move," declared the villain as muscle fibers began to overlap one another, covering the majority of his body. "I doubt your goody two shoe teachers taught you something like that, but that's what makes this interesting!"

With the increase in mass, the cloak the man had been wearing was effectively useless, ripping from the sheer difference in body size. It was at this moment that Midoriya was able to see his way to victory. The brute of the man had a scar on his face covering his left eye, or at least the prosthetic eye that was embedded in his skull.

This man had speed, power and a defence that would be incredibly difficult to break through. In Midoriya's favour, the man had only one working eye. Hence, if he couldn't out pace or out power the villain in front of him he needed to give himself the winning edge in the only way he could think of.

He was going to rip this man's eye out.

...

"Good, you made it," said Shirou as he stood in the canopy, Ragdoll jumping off the rope and onto the safety of the thick branches. "Tell me, what's happening out there?"

"Chaos," answered Ragdoll, having no real other answer for it. "Thankfully quite a few students have made their way back to the campsite, Eraser has dealt with the danger there but the fire is still growing. Mandalay, Tiger and Pixie-Bob have engaged the enemy. The real issue is Midoriya, he's on the mountain with Kouta and he is fighting for his life."

"Will your teammates be alright?" asked Shirou.

"Of course," said Ragdoll, pumping her fist. "Focus on your friend."

"Alright then," said Shirou as he looked upwards. He needed to get to the top of the canopy in order to get a good look at the mountainside in order to be able to provide support for Midoriya.

Fate, it seemed, had other plans.

Without so much as a warning, the tree that they were standing on began to topple over. Shirou reacted quickly, looping one arm around Ragdoll and leaping off the branch they were standing on to the safety of another tree. "Friend or foe?" he asked the member of the Wild, Wild Pussycats.

"Nearest student is back..."

That was all that Shirou needed to hear before a barrage of swords was sent careening forward, piercing the fog near where the fallen tree roots were located. The clang of steel on steel rang out however, as the swords Shirou had traced were knocked in all manner of directions as the person in the fog parried every threatening blow.

Changing tactics, Shirou allowed his bow to come into existence with an arrow already notched in the bowstring. Pulling the arrow back, he flooded the weapon with his mana before letting loose, the projectile rocketing forth before exploding on impact.

The blur that leapt out of the explosion caused him to frown ever so slightly. For them to be able to deflect all of the blades he had sent forth made them beyond skilled. Even if they had some kind of quirk that gave them some affinity for metal, to be able to swing as fast as they could required incredible precision, speed and strength.

The person landed gracefully on one of the opposing branches, their black blade held by their side. The sight of it caused Shirou to grasp at his head.

Beside him he could barely register Ragdoll saying something as his vision struggled to remain in focus, his eyes locked on the sword before him. The sword which couldn't be before him. The sword which when last he had seen hadn't been this corrupted monstrosity. He knew what he was seeing was true however, which meant that the person standing before him was who he thought it was, but not at the same time.

"Saber," he said slowly, the being before him not reacting to the title.

Hundreds of questions flooded his mind, many centred around the word of 'HOW!' Did he have time to ponder over these questions however? Of course not, considering there was a heroic spirit currently launching themselves at him with their sword prepared to slice his head clean off.

Grabbing the back of Ragdoll's head, Shirou pushed her down as he collapsed as low as he could, mere moments before the blade entered the space they had been. If Ragdoll had hoped that the sword would embed itself in the wood of the mighty tree, she was sorely mistaken as the blade sliced clean through without slowing down for an instant.

Knowing that she was in danger, Shirou threw Ragdoll from his crouched position, the member of the Wild, Wild Pussycats squealing at the impromptu flight. Shirou had no time to see whether or not she was able to grab hold of a branch to keep her out of the toxic fumes below. Instead he was more focused on the heroic spirit intent on killing him.

Springing upwards, Shirou clambered towards higher ground. He needed to move as far away from the gas below as possible. All Saber needed to do to guarantee victory was to plunge him to the ground. She may have been immune to the fumes but he wasn't keen to see how toxic quirk abilities affected him.

Leaping from branch to branch, he could hear Saber chasing him but it didn't seem as if she was catching him. By all means he knew that she was more than capable of doing so. Even if she wasn't the same Saber that he remembered, it seemed that striking an opponent's back was still something her honour wouldn't allow.

Either that or she was simply toying with him.

Probably the latter.

Glancing below, Shirou was glad to see the ground beneath him. Dropping below, as soon as Shirou's feet touched the ground he swung on the spot, Kanshou coming up and knocking Saber's blade to the side. Bakuya followed suit In Shirou's other hand but despite still being in midair, Saber managed to dodge the weapon without so much as letting a single hair be cut.

The following seconds were a blur as steel clashed against steel in a dazzling display. Anybody capable of seeing the action would have thought that the battle was on even ground. One competitor had a clear advantage however made only more obvious when the cracks began to appear in Shirou's mythical blades.

Knowing that they were about to shatter, Shirou took a leap backwards as Saber's sword cleaved through the air. In that single moment he launched the twin swords at Saber who effortlessly knocked them away. She was also able to sense the swords coming at her from above, a single swing of her sword preventing any of them from getting close to touching her.

It did give Shirou a moment to prepare however. Only a single moment.

Instinctively he reached for Kanshou and Bakuya once more but prevented himself from doing so, knowing that the same result was almost inevitable and he would only waste precious stamina and mana. Instead he brought forth Gáe Buide, the spear twirling thrice in his hand before his fingers clenched tightly around it.

Bracing himself, he knew that this tactic was dangerous. Saber wouldn't have given him the time to utilize Gáe Bolg (and even then he had once seen Saber avoid what should have been a fatal blow) so he had opted for the golden spear instead. With Avalon resting dormant inside of him, there was no chance that Saber could recover from the curse brought forth when cut with this weapon. Even if he could only land a handful of cuts, it could potentially turn the tide.

If he was lucky.

Springing forth, Shirou lunged with Gáe Buide and rapidly tried to land any sort of hit. Torso, head, legs. It mattered not where he tried to strike as Saber graceful weaved her way through every attack effortlessly. Shirou remained undeterred however as he continued his assault, knowing that a single lapse would result in dire consequences. He may not have been landing a hit but the constant attempts did prevent Saber from striking at him.

Of course, that would have been the case for an extraordinary opponent.

Saber was beyond that.

Shirou watched as Saber stepped into his attack, the tip of his spear gliding off her armour as she thrust forward.

Shirou could feel the unforgiving steel embed through his shoulder, the legendary weapon having pierced clean through his flesh. He had managed to weave and avoid a fatal blow but that was little solace. His eyes were locked onto Saber's face, not a single hint of emotion being shown.

Grinding his teeth together, Shirou tried to pierce at Saber's side with the spear in his hand and felt another surge of pain as Saber stepped backwards, pulling the corrupted sword out of him as she did so. Blood freely flowed from the wound as Shirou leapt backwards expecting Saber to swiftly give chase, only for her to remain rooted to the spot.

Shirou allowed the golden spear to vanish from his grasp, knowing that if he hadn't been able to get a strike in thus far the chances of him successfully cutting her with one arm effectively out of action was near impossible. Still though, not all hope was lost. He could still fight. There was still a chance.

"Shirou!"

The sound of his name caught Shirou completely off guard, turning his head swiftly to see Midoriya looking worse for wear. Clinging to his back was Kouta, the young child looking like he was in a mild state of shock. Then in Midoriya's hand...

Was that an eye?

"Let me help!" offered Midoriya boldly.

Shirou knew that the boy meant well, somewhat reminding himself of him back at the start of the Grail War. He too had been more than willing to offer any kind of assistance in trying to fight some of the fiercest warriors to have ever walked the planet, not caring how incredibly outclassed he was. So while he knew that Midoriya was keen to help him in this battle, Shirou was more than aware that the level of difference was similar to comparing a butter knife to a claymore. One could spread jams and such over toast. The other could cleave a man in two.

The difference was just too great.

Especially when Saber lifted her sword above her head.

Whatever hope they had vanished.

Hundreds of colourful words aptly describing how screwed they were bombarded Shirou's thoughts as he contemplated any and all options he had.

There weren't many.

Focusing all of his mana, Shirou brought a sword to his side. "Midoriya, run as far away from here as you can," ordered Shirou.

"But..."

"I say this with all the sincerity I can Midoriya. If you're anywhere near this next move, you will die."

Shirou could hear Midoriya stammer for a moment and he was thankful that the boy had a defenceless child in his grasp. Were he by himself, he could almost guarantee that Midoriya would stay regardless of his warning. With a kid however...

"I'll bring help," said Midoriya before he took off, sprinting off into the woods towards the campsite.

Help.

Nobody could help.

Shirou lifted the sword he held in his grasp high above his head, his action identical to that of Saber. Perhaps he had decided that his best chance of surviving this was also the most poetic one.

In his grasp he held Clarent, the sword which belonged to Mordred of the round table.

Poetic indeed.

In front of him, Saber's sword erupted a beam of pure energy, purple in colour high into the night sky. Shirou allowed his mana to flood into Clarent, a torrent of red spewing forth and up into the sky.

Seconds ticked by and Shirou prayed that hopefully by seeing the sword in his hand, Saber would recollect something. Anything that would make her pause.

It wasn't to be.

The two warriors launched their attacks simultaneously, twin destructive forces launching forward and colliding with one another with such intense force. The ground cracked. Trees were uprooted. The very world was stripped bare of all living things.

No matter how much strength Shirou plunged into this attack, he knew, deep down he knew, that there was only one way this was going to end.

...

"Kouta! Are you okay?" asked Midoriya as he cradled the young boy in his arms.

"Wha...what happened?" asked Kouta, unsure of what had just happened.

Midoriya truly wished that he could give an honest answer to Kouta but he had as much of a clue as he did. One second they had been running through the woods before next the world around them dramatically altered. The explosion that had rung forth had shifted the very landscape surrounding them. It frankly was nothing short of a miracle that they hadn't been injured in the blast.

"Was that Shirou?"

Kouta's question had effectively asked what had been on Midoriya's mind. Had they been closer, Midoriya had little doubt that whatever attack Shirou had launched would have had the potential to defeat almost anyone.

Had it defeated his opponent though?

"Let's go back," said Midoriya, the uncertainty in his voice completely understandable. The two of them would be walking into the centre of a conflict that neither of them had any part in. Midoriya knew however that stepping into situations like this was merely part and parcel for those wishing to become heroes.

Surprisingly, Kouta didn't argue and just meekly nodded, perhaps unsure of just what kind of danger they were stepping towards. Considering that he had encountered his parent's killer mere minutes ago and that the brute of a man had tried to kill him as well, the level of danger seemed somewhat difficult to comprehend at the moment.

Moving at a brisk pace, Midoriya headed towards the epicentre of the blast having put Kouta on his back once more. If they thought that the destruction they had found themselves in had been extensive, it was nothing compared to what they were encountering. It was especially jarring when they found the lush landscape completely bare, resembling a barren wasteland instead of the forest surrounding them.

Neither Midoriya or Kouta could comprehend the destruction in front of them, unable to find any words to describe what they saw. There was however, one thing standing amidst the devastation.

"Shirou!" shouted Midoriya as he recognized the figure standing there. Or at least the body that had been standing there before he collapsed backwards, crashing against the ground with an unceremonious thud. Crouching down to allow Kouta off of his back, Midoriya rushed forward to check on his fellow student, suddenly grateful that he had not allowed the young boy to see the image before them.

To say that Shirou had received a cut was an understatement if there ever was one. To say that he had nearly been cleaved in half was more of an accurate description. A straight line had gouged his body from collar to hip, three fingers in width allowing blood to flood from the wound and form a pool around him.

Midoriya found himself frozen as he watched the life literally bleed out of Shirou.

He had to go get help!

He had to go...

He had...

Nausea swiftly filled Midoriya's body and he managed to turn away just in time as vomit and bile burst from his lips and painted the ground. It took him several seconds to compose himself, taking deep breaths in and out in an attempt to get his body back under control. It didn't matter how queasy the image made him feel, he still had to get help.

He had to.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	35. Chapter 35

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night**

**...**

As emergency services arrived, Aizawa looked at the students who were all the worse for wear. It was to be expected, they had thought they were safe and for good reason. Not a single student had been told of the location where they were heading and still they had found themselves at the mercy of the League of Villains.

Unlike the previous encounter however, this didn't end as well.

There were injuries sure, in any battle one should expect to not walk away unscathed. The extent of the damage however was far greater than the attack earlier in the year. Many of them had been rendered unconscious before the fighting had ever truly began so it was difficult to judge whether the outcome was better or worse as a result.

The people tonight had been more than willing to kill if the need arose. Happily by the description given of the man that Midoriya had fought (though he would have to reprimand him at a later time about how removing a man's sight was not an appropriate way to secure victory unless under the most dire of circumstances). At the end of the day, they weren't trained heroes and even the strongest amongst them could fall.

Case in point, the fact that Shirou had had to be airlifted to the nearest medical facility. He along with the Wild, Wild Pussycats had done as much as they could to try and stabilize the boy but given the amount of damage that he had sustained there was only so much they could do. While realistically the chance of survival was minimal, he somehow had a feeling that he would fight through this. He was too stubborn to die.

A swords woman wearing black and purple armour. Ragdoll had already given her description to the police who would search through their database for the dangerous woman and try to find some sort of background for her. From Ragdoll's depiction of the events she had been saved from being captured by the showman known as Mr Compress and then saved once more from what she described as certain death at the hands of the person Shirou referred to as 'Saber.'

This brought about several important pieces of information which Aizawa knew he had to bring up with the rest of the faculty once he returned to the academy. The first and foremost regarding this Saber character was that since Shirou knew them by name (or what they would likely assume was her villain name) made it obvious that the two of them knew each other. Shirou had never mentioned much of his powers except that they weren't

Putting those theories to the side, Aizawa knew that he had to safely escort the rest of the students back to civilization. While a number of villains had been captured, some far more easier than others, a good number of them had escaped through a portal. Saber, however, had not been captured nor had she escaped with the rest of the villains. That meant that the incredibly dangerous character was still somewhere in these woods...maybe?

He had enough trouble trying to figure out the capabilities of the villain that he had been fighting, let alone one who could slice open the kid who had fought against All Might. It was purely possible that she had come here solely for Shirou, some sort of vendetta from a time long ago and after having nearly killed the kid chose to wander off into the darkness of night. He could create theories all day and night and be nowhere near the truth. He needed to focus on the important pieces of information that were not based on wild theories.

First, one of his students had been taken away, stolen from the campgrounds and was now being held captive by the League of Villains. Given his explosive personality, chances were that they wanted to recruit him to their side. He could theorize that they would wait for the heroes to make some sort of move in order to show that their way was better and that it would be better for him to join them. Given the severity of what had happened here, they would have to face the media within a few days. Bakugo would likely be safe until then.

He hoped.

Secondly, he needed to post as much security around whatever hospital ward Shirou would be allocated to after he went through surgery. If this Saber character was after him, then he needed to make sure of two things. First being that nobody could get into Shirou's room. Secondly, that nobody could get out.

He did not put it past Shirou to leave as soon as he regained consciousness, even despite the fact that there was no chance he would be medically cleared. Frankly, chances were that it would be what he would do if he found himself in a similar situation.

Yeah, he definitely needed all of the security he could muster making sure that Shirou didn't leave.

...

Her body ached something fierce. Never before had she felt such pain course through every corner of her body.

Pushing herself to a seated position, she absentmindedly reached for the desk by her bedside where her phone was located. Only for her hand to miss, grabbing a handful of grass instead.

It was at this moment she became far more aware of her surroundings and how she most definitely was not in her bedroom because last she checked, her bedroom was safely between the walls of a house. Most definitely was her bedroom not located out in the middle of the woods!

If this was a prank done by her colleagues because of how she had behaved at the office party, this was most definitely NOT FUNNY!

Standing up and ignoring the pain surging through her being, she began to walk with the hope that she was just in some isolated park somewhere and that she would stumble across a road within mere moments.

It was not to be.

...

Bakugo growled out various obscurities as he wrestled with the metal blocks surrounding his hands. To try and use his quirk would only cause a solid deal of self harm, rendering his hands practically useless. Could he fight his way out of here with only his feet? Well if he could get these damn things off his hands he would find out one way or another!

Bakugo hated the fact that he had been captured, not even having been able to put up a fight against the bastard who had snuck up behind him. One moment he had been celebrating after having defeated the freaking beaver teeth prick alongside two tone and then the next he had found himself being dragged through a portal, being surrounded by darkness as the campsite vanished from view.

Quitting his struggles momentarily, he took a calming breath as he contemplated what was likely to come. The bastards had captured him, relatively unharmed given the circumstances, and other than locking these shitty contraptions on his hands, had effectively left him alone. If they were going to kill him, why go through all this trouble? No, they had to have something else up their sleeve.

If they were going to keep him captive, then at some stage somebody would come along to give him some food, or at least he hoped so. Instead of trying to rip their head off, he needed to get as much information as he could. It wasn't likely that they were going to tell him the location of their hideout, surely they weren't that stupid. If he could get little tidbits about their overall plan however, he could be a help to the heroes once he escaped from this shithole.

Slumping against the wall, he realized that this was going to be a mission where he needed to take things slowly, one step at a time. As he was now, there was nothing he could do. What he could do when they brought him out to chat however, that was a different story all together.

If they expected him to unleash the moment that they laid eyes on him, they had another thing coming. Hot tempered Bakugo was what everyone expected out of him, to try and unleash hell the moment he was able. When he calmly accepted what they were saying, bantering back and forth amongst one another giving out little tidbits of information it would be something they never saw coming.

It was a plan. A plan that he already hated with every fibre of his being, but a plan nonetheless.

...

Re-Destro checked his pocket watch, the brass device showing the time to be nine thirteen. The entire town was on high alert with thousands of people lying in wait ready to ambush Rin when given the chance. They had been forewarned that the bitch had Curious hostage and to proceed with caution. They were being filmed and to save the damsel in distress would be far more advantageous for their cause then for her to accidentally be killed by friendly fire. They could edit it all out afterwards but it wouldn't make as great a story.

"The train is pulling into the station," announced Skeptic, leaning over his computer.

"Wonderful," said Re-Destro as he pocketed the small device that he held. Silently he prayed for the well being of those devoted followers of his. There would be bloodshed and the loss of life, that was almost a guarantee. He merely hoped not too many had to suffer for the greater good.

"The doors are opening and...my god..."

"Hmm, what is it?" asked Re-Destro as he strolled around to have a look at what it was that Skeptic had bore witness to. The train had stopped it's forward motion for no more than ten seconds. What could possibly have happened in that time?

Turns out, Rin Tohsaka had wished to make an entrance and had the brass pocket watch still been within his grasp it would have shattered into countless pieces.

Rin herself was not out of the ordinary, wearing the same clothes that she had been wearing when she had been first caught by heroes and paraded about the social media world. She likely had chosen the same outfit under the pretence that it was part of the attire she was most well known in, much like a hero being completely recognizable by their costume alone.

The man beside her however, was most definitely not the man that they had spotted coming in and out of her lodgings with groceries and the like. Armed to the teeth with weapons of all kind, the man well and truly looked like an assassin or mercenary. How Rin had managed to strong arm someone like that into working alongside her was unknown but the more important piece of intel was just how long had this person been working with her? He was nothing like the casual fellow they had been tracking!

Then, there was the truly outrageous part. The part which nearly set Re-Destro off without him having even left the comfort of his office.

Rin held in her hand a bright red leash. At the end of said leash was a bright red collar. The collar was wrapped around the neck of Curious who was walking along on all fours.

The collar, as disturbing as it sounded, was all that Curious was wearing.

The woman who had worked for him loyally for so long should have felt absolute disgust at just the thought of being nude in front of the population that worshipped her as one of their leaders. Instead of making a nauseating face however, she seemed in a state of elation. She looked as if she was having the absolute time of her life, twisting her head left and right and even going as far as to sniff at the ground as if she was an actual dog.

What in the absolute hell had happened to her!

How could they use any of this footage?

How were the people going to react...

No, he knew how the civilians laying in wait would react at the sight of Curious like this.

...

"How dare you do that to Miss Curious!"

Stain could very well have laughed at how obvious the response was. This, along with what seemed like a dozen sentences of similar scorn and hate rang forth, as people burst from their hiding holes, charging forward and putting themselves out into the open. The closest man to him had needle-like hair and tried to ram Stain with the top of his cranium.

The body skidding across the ground, bleeding heavily from the neck did little to slow down the people behind him. "Fanatics," grumbled Stain as he set to work, striking at all those who attacked without hesitation. He knew that their response was almost automated. When they had heard that they would be bringing Curious with them as a hostage, they likely imagined that she would be bound and used as a meat shield of sorts. This degreading site however was far more than what the average person could take, especially when seeing someone they regarded so highly having fallen so far.

Them watching Curious growl at a woman whose arm had been removed from her body was likely to only make them more riled up. In all fairness it was a brilliant tactical decision by Rin who seemed well aware that they weren't fighting hardened war veterans. The people charging towards utter destruction may have had some form of training, but training could only go so far regarding how well they responded when put to the test.

They may have had some sort of battleplan all set up and dozens of theoretical ideas on how best to successfully save their comrade but a miscalculation had thrown them completely off their game. Arguably it was a miscalculation that nobody could really have planned for but the point was still there.

Taking a breather to wipe the blood off of his katanas, Stain took a quick look over the shoulder at the people lying on the ground. Some had died swiftly while others clung at wounds in dire pain and in desperate need of medical assistance. Between all of them Rin walked casually through it all as if it were a stroll in the park, Curious walking faithfully by her side seemingly completely ignorant of the death and desolation around her.

"Initial thoughts?" she asked of the serial killer.

"There is training, minimal, but enough to pose a challenge in greater numbers against lesser foes," answered Stain as he glared down the road where the next batch of ambushers were waiting. At least this group seemed somewhat restrained in their initial response after having watched him butcher their friends so casually. "Chances are they're sending the cannon fodder at us to measure our skills."

"Your skills perhaps, you were the unknown factor after all," said Rin coyly.

"Oh, I find it so difficult to believe that they know everything that you're capable of," said Stain sarcastically, knowing that he was unaware of what Rin could do if she went all out.

"Well then, maybe I should show them something they're not prepared for," said Rin, handing Curious' lead to Stain. "Hold Tiddles for me for just a moment will you."

Stain knew better than to question the name that Rin had given Curious.

Rin stepped forward purposefully before coming to a stop in the middle of the road, hands on her hips. It seemed as if the people of this town had learnt their lesson regarding whether or not they should charge in without thinking. No matter where they were hiding though, it didn't matter.

"Beuge dich nach meiner Laune," she said casually, channeling her mana as she targeted the building on the corner of the street where she knew people were more than likely hiding behind. Of course, that was for only the moment.

The building began to disintegrate, brick by brick turned into small particles that began to circle Rin, a tornado bending to her will. The people who had been standing behind the building in wait simply stood there in shock as the last of their blockade joined the ever growing maelstrom surrounding Rin.

At least it had been surrounding Rin before she had unleashed it, the particles shooting out at blistering speeds. Those who had been standing in the open had to flee for any kind of cover, the powerful winds threatening to tear at their skin.

This of course, was merely the opening act.

...

"This...is...a minor setback..." said Skeptic as he typed furiously on his laptop.

Re-Destro meanwhile was grinding his teeth together, trying desperately to keep his cool. He couldn't allow himself to become more aggravated than he already was.

That being said, it was difficult to do so when he was LITERALLY WATCHING various buildings get erased off the street to join the walking typhoon that was casually strolling towards him. Their data regarding her limited her quirk to being able to shoot out a ball of energy that caused fatigue and/or nausea. It was a little difficult to comprehend how such a small scale quirk had manifested into something like what it was that he was seeing right now.

Even from his location, he could see that it no longer was restricted to inanimate objects. Humans were getting dragged in as well, their bodies evaporating into nothing as they screamed in agony for the final few moments of their existence.

Surely there was somebody on the streets capable of taking down this monster.

Anybody!

...

She cried, desperately clinging to the stump where her left arm once existed. The limb lay scattered amongst the bodies surrounding her but she dared not move after the slaughter she had narrowly avoided. Even from where she sat, she knew that she had no chance of competing against a quirk like that!

But she had to do something though. She had to rescue Miss Curious somehow!

It was at that moment she heard a voice speaking directly into her mind. The language however was something unfamiliar and almost otherworldly in tone. As the whirlwind of destruction grew in size, so too did the voice inside her head get louder and louder. While she couldn't understand the words being said, she could understand one thing very, very clearly.

Whoever was speaking to her wanted that bitch removed from this world.

She was willing to help in any way she could.

And help she would in ways that she could not have possibly imagined.

...

Rin felt it all too suddenly, the desolation surrounding her coming to an abrupt halt creating a cone of blood and debris around her. The chaos dropped to the street, painting a circle around Rin as she tried to figure out what it was that she was feeling right now.

It was familiar, a sensation which never boded well to begin with.

"Done already?" asked Stain, oblivious to the danger that he was in.

Rin turned around and Stain thought for a moment that her gaze had locked on him. It was then that he realized that she was looking past him, back towards where they had first gotten off the train.

"Stain, keep Tiddles safe. I'm going to need her as leverage to get some much needed answers shortly," instructed Rin, her calm composure cracking ever so slightly. While very few would have been able to notice the small twinge in her voice, Stain had been able to pick it up instantly and knew that he should be concerned in regards to the person Rin was looking at.

He had paid a good deal of attention regarding all of those he had injured and slain but none of them looked like the woman who was currently standing behind them. This woman was not one of those that he had previously dealt with.

Long purple hair stretched to her ankles and her garb consisted of only two colours, black and purple. Across her eyes was a visor of sorts, completely sealing her sense of sight. In her hand she held what he could only describe as a large nail which was connected to a great length of steel chain.

He was confident though that he could take her.

However, orders were orders and if Rin wanted her pet out of the way then so be it. He'd let the women fight it out.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Quick side note in that I just want to thank you all for sticking with me through this story. It's not the best by any stretch of the imagination and I never really thought that it would garner the attention that it has. Reading each and every review however keeps me inspired to keep pushing on and to try and keep you guys reading intrigued with what's going to happen next.**

**Again, thank you.**


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